Radical Ecologies of the Right and Left: A Conversation with Ashton Kingdon and Balša Lubarda

In this new episode of the “When the Far Right and the Far Left Converge” series, which shares fresh research from aworkshop organised by the CEU DI Democracy in History Work Group, we discuss with Dr Ashton Kingdon and Dr BalšaLubarda how both the far right and the far left mobilise ecological ideas, often drawing from the same language of resistance. Based on their paper “Co-optationwithout Ownership: The Idea of Resistance in Multimodal Radical Right and Left Ecological Argumentation,” the conversation explores how environmentalismbecomes a battleground of competing ideologies, revealing surprising overlaps in how radical movements frame their struggle against perceived systems of oppression. The episode also examines how the use of similar imagery bydifferent groups can become dangerous in democracies, leading to confusion or disorientation among citizens and making it harder to interpret images and slogans outside their original context.