The people against the sun? ideology and strategy in far-right parties' climate obstruction of solar energy
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Far-right parties increasingly mobilize against climate action. While scholarship has initially focused on explicit climate denialism, by now research analyzes the opposition against specific climate policies. This article studies far-right parties’ positions on solar energy, the fastest growing renewable energy source in Europe. First, we examine the crucial case of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a prominent example of climate obstruction. Second, we explore ten additional far-right parties from eight western European countries as shadow cases. Methodologically, we analyze 61 manifestos (2014–2023). The article makes three key contributions: First, it shows how far-right parties frame solar power. Second, it underlines the heterogeneity of positions among far-right parties over space and time. Third, it argues that variation in opposition and support indicates that positions towards solar power are driven rather by strategic considerations than by a common coherent ideological stance – an important finding for understanding far-right climate obstruction more broadly.
Source: Environmental Politics
Authors: Manès Weisskircher, Sabine Volk
Institutions: Technische Universität Dresden, University of Passau
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4408154158