A Bourdieusian perspective on inequalities and internal climate change activism

This paper contributes to theory by illustrating how a grassroots climate change activist group, initiated to promote environmentally-focused organizational change, becomes a space that perpetuates social inequalities persistant in professional organizations. Drawing on Bourdieu's theoretical framework, we analyze the qualitative accounts of 47 professionals in reference to one internal climate change initiative. While research highlights the persistence of structural inequalities, our findings reveal how members’ actions produce and reproduce existing power structures and inequalities that marginalize professional groups, reinforcing dominant doxa, illusio and symbolic violence. We also demonstrate that while marginalized professionals’ practices seldomly challenge the ‘rules of the game’, internal activism can nevertheless offer a space for agency.