Climate Vanguard — Featured resource on Unlearning Capitalism
Climate Vanguard
Climate Vanguard is a youth‑led organisation empowering youth movements through radical political education.
About
What
Climate Vanguard is a youth-led organisation empowering youth movements through radical political education.
In recent years, young people have led popular struggles against ecological breakdown, racism, and genocide. Indeed, throughout history, youth have often been at the forefront of progressive movements.
In a time of compounding crises, we aim to further empower, develop, and strengthen young people’s capacity to build winning, liberatory movements.
Why
Crises are intensifying.
From worsening ecological breakdown to spiralling economic inequality, accelerating militarism and the rise of the far right, we are living in a time of compounding crises.
The system is at the root.
To overcome compounding crises, we must uproot their systemic drivers: capitalism and imperialism.
Social power is the answer.
We won’t win system change by appealing to the morality of our oppressors. Building social power with the global majority is the only path towards collective liberation.
Consciousness is key.
Political education that fuses theory with action is essential to raising people’s consciousness and building powerful movements.
How
Climate Vanguard’s approach to political education connects young people’s existing knowledge and experience to an analysis of the systemic drivers of social oppression and ecological breakdown.
Our education framework covers three core themes. These are:
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Roots: The systemic drivers of socio-ecological crises
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Future: An eco-socialist alternative based on human and non-human flourishing
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Transition: Strategies for uprooting systems of domination and realising collective liberation
We carry out this framework through three modes of political education – social media, publications, and workshops – together offering different levels of engagement that can be tailored to different needs.
Ultimately, all of our learning experiences are designed to enable youth to develop consciousness of their political circumstances, engage in praxis, and become key change agents in the struggle for liberation.
Values
These are the principles that keep us grounded in reality and focused on building power to win collective liberation.
Radical
We must transcend the oppressive systems of capitalism and imperialism to realise a new world of human and non-human flourishing.
Liberatory
We are dedicated to combating all systems of oppression and exploitation. We strive for nothing less than the liberation of all life.
Creative
We seek to constructively challenge habitual ways of thinking and learning. This is crucial for combatting the impoverishment of our imagination, imposed by systems of oppression.
Caring
We strive to be kind, attentive, and comradely with all those with whom we are fortunate enough to work. We extend solidarity to all suffering under the oppressive status quo and all those resisting it.
Reflexive
We are committed to constantly developing ourselves and our work in order to better contribute to the struggle for liberation. Examining ourselves and our worldview through constant criticism is essential to our practice.
Independent
We are fiercely independent and will not accept support or enter any partnership that limits our commitment to collective liberation.
