Ecological Crisis, Sustainability and the Psychosocial Subject (eBook)

Matthew Adams is Principal Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Brighton, UK. He has published widely on issues of self and identity in the context of modern society. His recent research uses critical psychology and social science to make sense of the ways we respond to climate change and the wider ecological crisis.

Dedication 6
Acknowledgements 8
Contents 9
1: Introduction: The Walls Are Closing In 11
Introduction 11
Chapter Guide 14
Notes 17
References 18
2: Welcome to the Anthropocene 21
Introduction 21
Interdependence 22
Scientific Observation and Modelling 24
Greenhouse Gases 26
Impacts 28
Mitigation: Where Do We Start? 32
Scientising the Anthropocene 35
Addressing the Psychosocial 38
References 42
3: Ecological Crisis Through a Social Lens 49
Introduction 49
Communicating the Anthropocene 51
Psychology and Behaviour Change 53
Six Problems for a Psychology of Environmentally Significant Behaviour 55
Underestimating the Nature and Scope of Change Required 56
Depoliticizing the Ecological Crisis 57
Ignoring the Power of Conflicting Interests 58
Reifying Citizens as Passive Subjects 59
Fixing Behaviour in Stasis 59
Neglecting the Importance of Social Context 60
Out of the Shadows? 61
References 68
4: Searching for a New Normal: Social Practices and Sustainability 77
Introduction 77
Social Practices 78
Elements and Path Dependence 81
Accounting for Change: Competition and Collaboration 83
Social Practice and Sustainability 85
Informing Interventions 87
Re-crafting Practices 88
Substituting Practices 89
Interlocking Practices 90
References 95
5: Power, Nature and Meaning: Critiquing a Social Practice Approach to Sustainability 99
Introduction 99
Power 101
Nature 107
Meaning 109
Moving on 112
References 114
6: Managing Terror: Mortality Salience, Ontological Insecurity and Ecocide 119
Introduction 119
Ontological (In)security 120
Ecological Crisis and Ontological Insecurity 122
Terror Management Theory and Mortality Salience 123
Extending Death Accessibility 127
Beyond Terror 129
References 133
7: Knowing and Not Knowing About Anthropogenic Ecological Crisis 139
Introduction 139
Defence Mechanisms 140
Defence Mechanisms in the Anthropocene 141
Ways of Knowing and Not Knowing at the Same Time 143
Literal Denial 143
Interpretive Denial 144
Implicatory Denial 145
References 149
8: Building a Movement Against Ourselves? Socially Organized Defence Mechanisms 155
Introduction 155
After Cohen 156
Disavowal, Splitting and Projection 157
Proximal and Distal Defences 158
Climate Change and the Dual Process Model 159
Transference Idealization 161
Self-Esteem and Consumerism 163
Outgroup Antagonism 166
Bolstered Worldview 168
Organizational Dynamics 170
Containing the Unbearable 171
Creating Support Structures 174
Reflections on Knowing and Not Knowing 176
References 179
9: ‘Its All Folded into Normalcy’: Narratives and Inaction 185
Introduction 185
We Need Stories 188
Master Narratives and Anthropogenic Ecological Degradation 193
‘It’s All Folded into Normalcy’: Consumerism as Narrative Vehicle for the Social Organization of Denial 197
Apocalypse When? 198
Shop Till You Drop: Consumerism, Narrative and Terror Management 201
Socially Organized Terror? 203
Experience Exceeds Narrative 205
Looking for Alternative Narratives 207
References 209
10: Embodied Entanglements: Exploring Trans-Species 218
Introduction 218
Trans-Species Psychology and Speciesism 220
From the Fantastic to the Commonsensical? 222
Becoming with 223
Capacious Relationality 226
An Occasional Touch of Otherness 229
Encountering Ravens 231
Trans-Species Identifications as a Basis for Sustainable Practices 232
A Sense of Belonging 233
Attending to Other Ways of Being 235
References 237
11: Narrative Foreclosed? Towards a Psychosocial Research Agenda 244
Looking Back 244
Narrative Foreclosure: Towards a Psychosocial Research Agenda 247
When Will the Story End? Narrative Foreclosure and Ecological Crisis 250
Escape Routes 251
Beyond the Climate Change Imaginary 253
The Contours of What is Possible 257
References 259
References 263
Index 279