Youth in the US
“We have eight years left, so let’s go!” An interview with activist Katharina Maier about Fridays for Future in the US
German-US-American activist Katharina (Kat) Maier was studying at Freie Universität Berlin when she came across a demonstration of the youth movement Fridays for Future there in 2018. An event manager who has campaigned for social issues for many years, she immediately started to help organize the movement. Returning to the States in mid-2020, she shifted her activism from Berlin to Washington, D.C. In an interview with IJAB, Katharina Maier describes what significance the initia - tive has in the US and explains how young people connect gender and race to activism and sustain- ability.
Kat, what is your current role with Fridays for Future USA?
shington, D.C. and we've also been trying to start a local group here, but COVID has slowed everything down a bit.
When I returned to the US from Germany, I’d just plan- ned to continue working with Fridays for Future. But then I found out the movement in the US had already broken up in early 2020. Activism is common in the US, though, so you soon find organizations you can get involved with. This was how I got to know people. At the end of 2020, three of us got together and we asked ourselves whether we needed Fridays for Future, or whether we should in- vest our energy in networks and initiatives that already exist. We came to the conclusion that Fridays for Future serves different niches and people, and it has different strengths. And so, the three of us relaunched the move- ment in the US. We have no hierarchy or titles. So, I’d say my role is that of an organizer, coordinator, and generally activist at the national level. We initially set up Fridays for Future at a national level as a hub to pool resources and knowledge and help others set up local groups. I'm currently in Wa-
From what you say, I understand that activism is much more widespread in the US than it is in Germa- ny. Is that correct? Yes and no! Activism in the US is just organized diffe - rently and there are different opportunities. I definitely wouldn’t say it’s better. For example, in the US activism is considered by non-activists to be much more radical, but at the same time there are far more organizations that people can get involved with in all kinds of ways. It’s really easy to set up your own organization in the States. As long as you present yourself well on social media, no one knows whether there’s two people behind you or two hundred. As a result, activism in the States is very fragmented compared to Germany, and so collaboration is not always effective.
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