Learning from Young People Engaged in Climate Activism: The Potential of Collectivizing Despair and Hope

Nairn, Karen

doi:10.1177/1103308818817603

Cited by 130 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Norgaard's study showed that anxiety and other difficult emotions were caused on one hand by changes in geophysical environment and, on the other hand, by pressures to social worlds. Afterwards, this notion of how social and ecological factors become intertwined has been shown in many empirical studies which have included reflections about eco-anxiety and climate anxiety [15,43,[54][55][56][57][58]. Numerous different social factors shape people's experiences of eco-anxiety.…”

Section: Social and Political Sciences: Anxiety As Related To Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A highly charged social issue in industrialized countries is the decreasing childbirth rate. During the last years of the 2010s, a growing number of people told that eco-anxiety, and especially climate anxiety, is an important reason for their reluctance to have children [15] (p. 7) [43] (p. 22) [13,20]. Organizations or movements such as Conceivable Future in the USA and BirthStrike in the UK have provided platforms for people who have these kinds of thoughts.…”

Section: Social and Political Sciences: Anxiety As Related To Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One focal point in this discussion has been the young climate activist Greta Thunberg, who has openly spoken of her climate change anxiety [12]. Climate anxiety became perhaps the most discussed form of eco-anxiety and it was often discussed in relation to the children, youth, and young adults who participated in climate action [13][14][15][16]. More studies on the mental health impacts of climate change were published [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anxiety and the Ecological Crisis: An Analysis of Eco-Anxiety and Climate Anxiety

2020

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Eco-anxiety and climate anxiety are widely discussed in contemporary media and are subjects of growing research interest. However, there is a lack of research about the definitions and variations of these phenomena. This article analyzes various views of eco-anxiety from a wide range of disciplines. Insights from various anxiety theories are used to discuss empirical studies about forms of eco-anxiety. The article points out that uncertainty, unpredictability, and uncontrollability seem to be important factors in eco-anxiety. Most forms of eco-anxiety appear to be non-clinical, but cases of “pathological” eco-anxiety are also discussed. Other relevant terms and phenomena are scrutinized, such as ecological grief, solastalgia, and ecological trauma. The relationship between studies on eco-anxiety and research about ecological emotions and affect is probed. Eco-anxiety is found to be closely connected to fear and worry, but several disciplines include discussion of its character as existential anxiety. Psychosocial and sociological perspectives point out that social dynamics shape forms of eco-anxiety in profound ways. While paralyzing forms of eco-anxiety emerge as a problem, it is noted that eco-anxiety manifests itself also as “practical anxiety”, which leads to gathering of new information and reassessment of behavior options. This variety of forms of eco-anxiety should be taken into account in healthcare and public discussion.

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Section: Social and Political Sciences: Anxiety As Related To Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Social and Political Sciences: Anxiety As Related To Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anxiety and the Ecological Crisis: An Analysis of Eco-Anxiety and Climate Anxiety

2020

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“…She showed that an IBC approach detracted young people from deeper engagement with the difficult work of thinking about the underlying causes of climate change, including the emotional work involved in imagining different and new alternatives to current socio-economic and socio-political realities. Another New Zealand-based study of climate activists also reported high levels of despair, burnout and eco-anxiety, but found hope through recognising the strength that collective, rather than individual, responses that climate change could bring (Nairn 2019). These studies suggest that researchers need to pay far more attention to the imaginations of young activists themselves and allow possibilities to see collective hope and solidarity, not only despair and the need to embed this in theoretical and methodological frameworks.…”

Section: Explainsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…This common approach focuses on an individual's own actions to reduce environmental and climate impacts -such as recycling, using reusable bags, reducing carbon footprint, eating less meat and so on. While this has some merits, it has been found to be closely associated with growing levels of 'eco-anxiety', guilt and despair amongst children, young people and climate activists (Christensen 2019;Lawton 2019;Nairn 2019;Thomas et al 2019). These prevailing and individualising anxieties make their way into how we research, with a good example being the Wahlström and colleagues (2019) report which overlooked the joyful and hopeful aspects of the climate strikes, focusing instead on anxiety, fear and hopelessness due to the narrow framing of the methodology (Bowman 2019).…”

Section: Focus On Individual Behavioural Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Youth-led climate strikes: fresh opportunities and enduring challenges for youth research - commentary to Bowman

Wood¹

2020

Preprint

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In this commentary I respond to Benjamin Bowman’s Fennia paper by extending upon his central thesis that argues that the prevailing methodological tools and framings used to research youth political participation perpetuate unhelpful and inadequate dichotomies about youth. Advancing upon this, I suggest that the youth climate strikes in 2019 highlight three prevalent discourses in youth research relating to climate change: (i) the tendency to view youth as isolated individuals, neglecting the role of adults and communities; (ii) the tendency to focus on individual behavioural change rather than recognise the need for systemic and societal responses to climate change, and (iii) the tendency to overlook structural characteristics of youth such as race, gender and social class. The resulting discourses of youth autonomy, individualism and homogeneity lead to a distorted picture of young activists and perpetuate harmful narratives which lead to stigma, despair and cynicism. The paper concludes by advocating for greater care in the research methodologies and critical frameworks we use to report on youth at public events, such as climate strikes, in order to allow for the complexity of the young political agent, the ambiguity of some of their actions and for opportunities that enable young people themselves to articulate their own participation.

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Considering ecological determinants of youth mental health in the era of COVID‐19 and the Anthropocene: A call to action from young public health professionals

Oswald

Langmaid

2021

Health Prom J of Aust

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In 2019, young Australians reported that two of their top concerns were ‘climate change and the environment’ and ‘mental health’. The events of 2020/2021, such as the ongoing climate emergency, the Australian bushfires, and the COVID‐19 pandemic, reflect the human‐induced environmental issues young people are most worried about and have also exacerbated the mental health issues which they already reported to be at a crisis point back in 2019. Given experiences of mental illness in adolescence are associated with poorer mental health across the lifespan, it is becoming increasingly important to address ecological determinants of youth mental health in the Anthropocene. However, despite the inclusion of ecological determinants of health in seminal health promotion frameworks, health promotion has been described as ‘ecologically blind’, emphasising social determinants of health at the expense of ecological determinants of health. A socio‐ecological model, which equally considers upstream social and ecological factors, should be applied to youth mental health issues. Using the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, we demonstrate how the ecological determinants of health may be incorporated into health promotion approaches targeting youth mental health. We also call for the health promotion sector to consider a number of actions to work towards achieving a transition to ecological determinants of health being at the forefront of health promotion activities. This commentary, written by young public health professionals, hopes to build on the momentum garnered by youth activists around the world and bring attention to the importance of ecological determinants of health for youth mental health promotion in the era of COVID‐19 and the Anthropocene.

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Learning from Young People Engaged in Climate Activism: The Potential of Collectivizing Despair and Hope

Cited by 130 publications

References 34 publications

Anxiety and the Ecological Crisis: An Analysis of Eco-Anxiety and Climate Anxiety

Anxiety and the Ecological Crisis: An Analysis of Eco-Anxiety and Climate Anxiety

Youth-led climate strikes: fresh opportunities and enduring challenges for youth research - commentary to Bowman

Considering ecological determinants of youth mental health in the era of COVID‐19 and the Anthropocene: A call to action from young public health professionals

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