Our article examines how climate activists in Germany think historically and thus create visions of the future. From our research, we find that the activists see themselves as part of a tradition of social movements, from civil rights to women’s suffrage, that achieved dramatic change by challenging the status quo.

At the heart of our research lies the concept of ‘historical thinking towards the future’. We build on Jörn Rüsen’s work, which emphasises how people make sense of the past to navigate present challenges. Yet in the press interviews that we examined, the activists extend this logic, focusing strongly on the future as an urgent horizon for action. They talk about ‘tipping points’ and highlight a sense of crisis that demands immediate, collective action. Here, Dipesh Chakrabarty’s idea of multiple timescales – from planetary to human – becomes relevant: while rising temperatures unfold over geological eras, activists insist that our present choices will soon lock in irreversible damage.

This perspective calls for new ways of thinking about history, time and responsibility. In the article, we propose two main foci. First, the future must be recognised as a highly relevant integral part of historical thinking: activists do not merely recall social movements of the past but also imagine radically different futures. Second, historical consciousness has the potential not just to individual orientation but also to a powerful sense of collective agency. Taking inspiration from Hannah Arendt’s notion of ‘natality’ – the idea that human beings always have the potential to begin anew – activists see their role as forging space for fresh possibilities in our societies.

Far from being paralysed by climate anxiety, the activists have feelings of hope and fear. They are troubled by dystopian scenarios of ecological collapse but are convinced that immediate action could still yield a fairer, more sustainable society. By weaving together historical insight with a future-focused urgency, they reframe climate change as part of a broader story of human agency and responsibility – one in which the final chapter has yet to be written.

As the climate issue affects all of humanity, but we humans are not equally affected by it, we believe it is important to have as broad a debate as possible on this topic. For this reason, we chose to publish our article in HERJ. We look forward to hopefully receiving many readers and feedback.

Climate crisis, the Anthropocene and the future: historical thinking in the German climate movement by Matthias Sieberkrob (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany) and Nina Reusch (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany) is published in History Education Research Journal, volume 22.

Dr. Matthias Sieberkrob is a research associate in the department for didactics of history at Freie Universität Berlin. He is currently engaged in research about democracy education, historical agency, the role of emotions and the future in historical thinking and culture, and the historical thinking in social movements.

Dr. Nina Reusch is a research associate in the department for didactics of history at Freie Universität Berlin. She is engaged in research about queer history, ESD, future as a dimension of historical thinking, print media in the 19th century, theories in the didactics of history, and discourses in public history.

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