What Stymies Action on Climate Change? Religious Institutions, Marginalization, and Efficacy in Kenya

Abstract

Addressing climate change requires coordinated policy responses that incorporate the needs of the most impacted populations. Yet even communities that are greatly concerned about climate change may remain on the sidelines. We examine what stymies some citizens’ mobilization in Kenya, a country with a long history of environmental activism and high vulnerability to climate change. We foreground efficacy—a belief that one’s actions can create change—as a critical link transforming concern into action. However, that link is often missing for marginalized ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious groups. Analyzing interviews, focus groups, and survey data, we find that Muslims express much lower efficacy to address climate change than other religious groups; the gap cannot be explained by differences in science beliefs, issue concern, ethnicity, or demographics. Instead, we attribute it to understandings of marginalization vis-à-vis the Kenyan state—understandings socialized within the local institutions of Muslim communities affected by state repression.

Poverty and Prejudice

“…Religious marginality can broadly be differentiated into the impacts of environmental change due to discrimination and marginalization (Baird 2008) and the extent, or lack thereof, of recognition of such groups in climate action policies and interventions (Mihlar 2008;Honig et al 2021). In many cases, these minority groups reside in marginal environments, often living in disaster-prone areas (such as low-lying areas prone to flooding or other environmental hazards) and are directly dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods (Muhumuza, this volume).…”

“…Due to systemic biases and prejudices, religious minorities are often unable to demand a response or influence climate action as they are often ignored and excluded by policy makers, and this adversely affects their political engagement with the state. For example, Honig et al (2021) in their work in Kenya show how leaders of Muslim community groups have faced difficulties eliciting responses from their local politicians, thus severely limiting their agency to highlight the specific problems faced by the community.…”

The Patterns of Hegemony of the Kokoda Tribe in the City and Regency of Sorong, Southwest Papua

“…Existing local institutions also experience limitations in terms of voicing the aspirations of their people. Marginalized communities are communities that cannot adjust to the development process, are marginalized communities, are in a relatively powerless position, and are politically considered unimportant compared to other communities (Ampumuza, 2020;Honig, 2021).…”

“…Marginalized communities are disadvantaged people struggling to gain access to resources, and full participation in social life (Alam & Halder, 2018). Marginalization describes a persistent and structural position as a historically discriminated group in society or the political system (Honig, 2021). This research looks at the complex phenomenon of marginalization that occurs in the Kokoda community in the city and district of Sorong, West Papua.…”

Individual and social‐psychological factors to explain climate change efficacy: The role of mindfulness, sense of global community, and egalitarianism

“…The antecedents of a sense of agency/efficacy on climate issues, have been mostly referred to as civic education through social networks and community institutions, to the trustworthy relationship with the institutions and the scientific agencies that manage the risk and to the level of marginalization. Countries, but also social groups, that are most affected by climate change are also least able to prevent it (Honig et al, 2020).…”