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Fuelling resistance: A critical discourse analysis of hegemonic masculinities in Germany’s climate discourse on the mobility transition

Jarzyk, Lena LU (2025) In Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science MESM02 20251
LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)
Abstract
Amid an escalating climate crisis, Germany faces growing political polarisation and declining support for climate policy. The mobility transition has emerged as a symbolic and emotionally charged ‘cultural battleground’, where debates around fossil-fuel dependency are deeply entangled with identities and power structures. This study examines the role of hegemonic masculinities in shaping socio-political resistance to the mobility transition through a feminist critical discourse analysis of newspaper articles and parliamentary debates. Drawing on feminist political ecology and the concepts of hegemonic masculinity and fossil-fuel hegemony, the analysis reveals how industrial, ecomodern, and petromasculinities reinforce fossil-fuel... (More)
Amid an escalating climate crisis, Germany faces growing political polarisation and declining support for climate policy. The mobility transition has emerged as a symbolic and emotionally charged ‘cultural battleground’, where debates around fossil-fuel dependency are deeply entangled with identities and power structures. This study examines the role of hegemonic masculinities in shaping socio-political resistance to the mobility transition through a feminist critical discourse analysis of newspaper articles and parliamentary debates. Drawing on feminist political ecology and the concepts of hegemonic masculinity and fossil-fuel hegemony, the analysis reveals how industrial, ecomodern, and petromasculinities reinforce fossil-fuel dependency and uphold patriarchal power structures in the climate discourse. These identities fundamentally shape resistance by framing climate policy as ideological, elitist, and authoritarian, revealing climate denial and misogyny as mutually reinforcing forces. The study argues that feminist and ecological counter-discourses are essential to confronting these dynamics and advancing more just and transformative climate transitions. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Jarzyk, Lena LU
supervisor
organization
course
MESM02 20251
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
sustainability science, hegemonic masculinity, fossil-fuel hegemony, climate discourse, feminist political ecology
publication/series
Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science
report number
2025:030
language
English
id
9195252
date added to LUP
2025-06-11 12:50:30
date last changed
2025-06-18 09:04:40
@misc{9195252,
  abstract     = {{Amid an escalating climate crisis, Germany faces growing political polarisation and declining support for climate policy. The mobility transition has emerged as a symbolic and emotionally charged ‘cultural battleground’, where debates around fossil-fuel dependency are deeply entangled with identities and power structures. This study examines the role of hegemonic masculinities in shaping socio-political resistance to the mobility transition through a feminist critical discourse analysis of newspaper articles and parliamentary debates. Drawing on feminist political ecology and the concepts of hegemonic masculinity and fossil-fuel hegemony, the analysis reveals how industrial, ecomodern, and petromasculinities reinforce fossil-fuel dependency and uphold patriarchal power structures in the climate discourse. These identities fundamentally shape resistance by framing climate policy as ideological, elitist, and authoritarian, revealing climate denial and misogyny as mutually reinforcing forces. The study argues that feminist and ecological counter-discourses are essential to confronting these dynamics and advancing more just and transformative climate transitions.}},
  author       = {{Jarzyk, Lena}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science}},
  title        = {{Fuelling resistance: A critical discourse analysis of hegemonic masculinities in Germany’s climate discourse on the mobility transition}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}