The Green Movement: Climate and Transition

‘Spirituality’ in Health Studies: Competing Spiritualities and the Elevated Status of Mindfulness

“…(Sutcliffe and Bowman 2000, p. 6)An important trend in contemporary spirituality is its countercultural ethos, well reflected in the ‘spiritual but not religious’ tag. Thus, the growth of contemporary spirituality may be driven by the countercultural shift against institutionalised and colonial religion, and to this end, Suzanne Owen shows that:‘Native Americans say they are employing the term „spirituality” as a reaction to missionary religions, associated with colonialism, but [also as the] move toward „spirituality” and away from institutional forms of religion is also part of a wider trend in Western society.’ (Owen 2008, p. 5)In my own research with climate activists (particularly during protest festivals) I found that green spirituality had developed a communitarian dimension reflected in artistic and performative activities (Nita 2016). Similarly other festivals, such as Burning Man, seen by insiders as a festival about creativity, spirituality and community, does not accord well with an understanding of ‘spirituality’ as individualistic, subjective and predicated on the self, which might indicate that ‘spirituality’ is once again on the move, coming to describe new collective values and relationships.…”

“…In my previous research, I recognised that an important postmillennial trend has been represented by a shift from an individual to a collective spirituality (Nita 2016, pp.163–186). Previously spirituality has been perceived as highly individualistic and as such it was seen as proof of secularisation.…”

Where is religion in political ecology?

“…Simultaneously, understanding how religious actors have at times worked to overcome such divisions may help broaden political ecological engagements with social movements. Several scholars working in cognate fields such as religion and ecology have begun assessing the effects of religious environmentalism, frequently finding that the presence of religions within such movements dramatically influences their aims and efficacy and, depending on the context, either brings broader coalitions together or prevents their formation (Taylor, 2007; Ellingson, 2016; Nita, 2016; Witt, 2016; Baugh, 2017; Gould and Kearns, 2018). A key subset of this field has begun interrogating whether religions can ever be “green” and how they might participate, either productively or divisively, in addressing ongoing and ever-unfolding environmental crises (Taylor, 2004, 2009; Veldman et al, 2014; Taylor et al, 2016a, 2016b).…”