In this essay, Chloé Germaine Buckley – Senior Lecturer in English at Manchester Metropolitan University – and Benjamin Bowman – Lecturer in Youth Justice in the Department of Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University – discuss the School Strike for Climate, the global movement initiated by Greta Thunberg in August 2018. They consider the strikes as a form of global cultural exchange and a process that envisions the world as it could be. The authors draw on a range of materials produced by young people, from informal protest signs to songs. 

About the Cultural Relations Collection 

The Cultural Relations Collection was an essay series exploring research themes from arts and culture, education and the English language in the context of the work of the British Council around the world. Written primarily by early-career researchers, often in collaboration with British Council staff, the Collection examines what is meant by ‘cultural relations’ and how this approach has evolved in theory and practice over time.  

The essays offer concise, accessible and multi-disciplinary introductions to both what the British Council does and how we do it. Collectively, they foreground the benefits of locally-led and people-centred approaches that are grounded in values of mutuality and reciprocity. They also highlight the positive impact on connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide that can be accrued when these approaches are built on long-term, sustained relationships with diverse partners and communities.  

Specific topics addressed through the Collection include peacebuilding, climate change, digital cultural relations, the Covid-19 pandemic, international development and soft power.