Ahead of the United Nations’ COP26 conference on climate change this fall, climate activists are raising the alarm for the planet’s future. Extinction Rebellion (XR) is one group sure to have an aesthetically punchy presence — bound to be followed by the usual liberal media praise and right-wing mockery of its stunts.

XR has, in times of growth, enjoyed an impressive digital presence. Dynamic and shareable content across platforms has spread its ideas and advertised its actions. But — as I saw in my own former role as an admin on XR’s social media pages — it soon became clear from the messages coming from a minority of supporters that its politics could easily lend weight to reactionary narratives.

This was intensified by the pandemic, which brought a faster pipeline from ostensibly radical liberal tendencies that spoke of “anti-politics” and “post-politics,” to a certain comfort with nativist dogmas. In the first instance, this lack of political sharpness manifested itself in XR’s call for a “depoliticization” of the climate issue, calling for a “Citizen’s Assembly” that would supposedly take the whole problem in hand.