Please wait while schedule loads.
“None of this used to be here!”: Mourning environmental loss and social change as motivation for activism
Type of Session
Individual Paper Presentation
Abstract
While there is recognition of the connection between environment and mourning in terms of grieving the loss of biodiversity or fearing the societal denial about climate change, the role of emotions has not been examined implicitly as a motivation for social action. Mourning is discussed at length in the sociology of emotions, but more in terms of the grieving process or the collective remembrance of significant spaces. Environmental sociology has theorized about ghosts of place, where people reminisce about the past and meanings of objects and places, but has not ventured beyond how grief may motivate a social response to protect their environment. In the literature on social movements, there is discussion on social movement organizations’ motivation by events to create change for the betterment of society and the environment, but very little discussion on the collections of emotions or sentiments that motivate individuals to get involved with specific issues.
This is a re-examination of previous qualitative research on population and environmental movement organizations and the emotional significance which motivated activists to become involved in their causes. The methodology includes a frame analysis on perceptions about population change (migration) and impact on the environment and examines social controversies which influence policy discussion. Content analysis examined change in social movement organizations and analyzed how issues were framed in the media. Interview questions centered on motivations to become activists in what inspired them to care about social and environmental issues and where they thought things needed to go. Themes uncovered included grief and mourning for the environment, sadness and anger for loss in their social worlds or exclusionary politics, and fear for the future with generations yet to come. While rationales differed among the various groups, there is hope that these activists re-examine the commonalities of their emotional motivations and make connections to resolve their differences.