Animism in the Anthropocene

2021 ◽  
pp. 026327642110392
Author(s):  
Arianne Conty
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
Relational Ontology ◽  
New Ecological Paradigm ◽  
Ecological Paradigm ◽  
Inanimate Matter ◽  
The Way

Following upon Bruno Latour’s famous injunction that ‘we have never been modern’, Graham Harvey has recently added that perhaps ‘we have always been animists.’ With the massive ecosystem destruction that is underway in the Anthropocene, this realization could represent a necessary paradigm shift to address anthropogenic climate change. If the expropriation and destruction intrinsic to the modern division between a world of cultural values attributed exclusively to humans and a world of inanimate matter devoid of value has become untenable, then showing the illusory nature of this divide should open the way for a transvaluation of values capable of developing an animistic relational ontology to replace the dualisms of the Western paradigm. Developing the four traits typical of animistic cultures – personhood, relationality, location and ontological boundary crossing – a postmodern ‘machinic animism’ is defended as a new ecological paradigm for the Anthropocene.

scholarly journals Anthropogenic climate change coverage in two Canadian newspapers : the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail, from 1988-2007

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Marie Ahchong
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
News Media ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
Public Issues ◽  
Regional Newspaper ◽  
The Way

Media portrayal of current events can influence public perception and the actions that policy and decision makers take with regard to these events. This study applied a content analysis to explore variations in the way Canadian news media depicted anthropogenic climate change by employing an approach previously used by Liu, Vedlitz and Alston (2008). This research applied their existing methodology to both the regional and national levels of media in a Canadian setting. Climate change articles from two newspapers published between 1988 and 2007, the Toronto Star, a regional newspaper, and the Globe and Mail, a national newspaper, were obtained. They were examined for aspects of climate change, including salience, image, scope, country representation, participants, and the origins of scientific information that was presented in the articles. Differences in the way climate change is portrayed between the newspapers at regional and national levels are also examined. Overall, climate change is portrayed similarly in the two newspapers as a large-scale (national and global) problem, despite the differences in audience scope. The Toronto Star exhibits a more national perspective with respect to climate change although it is a regional newspaper. Attention paid by the media to climate change increases from 1988-2007. Climate change is predominantly depicted in both newspapers as a destructive issue. There are linkages to other public issues, including those in international co-operation, science research and development, and energy and transportation. The analysis reveals that a number of non-government and government actors are concerned with climate change and a wider array of interest groups is becoming involved. Finally, the majority of the solution strategies presented in the articles focus on mitigation techniques, as opposed to adaptation strategies.

Towards Degrowth? Making Peace with Mortality to Reconnect with (One’s) Nature: An Ecopsychological Proposition for a Paradigm Shift

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Koller
Keyword(s):  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Identity Transformation ◽  
Capitalist Society ◽  
The Other ◽  
Existential Psychology ◽  
New Ecological Paradigm ◽  
Ecological Paradigm ◽  
Social Paradigm ◽  
Dominant Social Paradigm

This article explores the existential conditions for a transition towards socioeconomic degrowth through an analysis of a paradigm shift between two extreme polarities of socio-ecological positioning: the Dominant Social Paradigm (DSP) and the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP). It is suggested that the transition from one to the other – understood as the first collective step towards degrowth – requires a transformation in the way we, in western capitalist society, define ourselves in relation to nature. This identity transformation corresponds with the reconnection between humans and nature that ecopsychology has been calling for since its emergence in the 1970s. However, according to recent empirical studies in existential psychology, such a transformation contains potentially disquieting aspects, since it implies recognising and accepting the idea of our own mortality. Staging a dialogue between ecopsychology and critical degrowth theories, this article argues that the necessary transition towards degrowth requires new ways of dealing with these existential fears – namely, confronting them in a ‘reflexive’ rather than ‘defensive’ way – so as to develop relationships with nature that respect the limits of the biosphere.

scholarly journals Anthropogenic climate change coverage in two Canadian newspapers : the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail, from 1988-2007

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Marie Ahchong
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
News Media ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
Public Issues ◽  
Regional Newspaper ◽  
The Way

Media portrayal of current events can influence public perception and the actions that policy and decision makers take with regard to these events. This study applied a content analysis to explore variations in the way Canadian news media depicted anthropogenic climate change by employing an approach previously used by Liu, Vedlitz and Alston (2008). This research applied their existing methodology to both the regional and national levels of media in a Canadian setting. Climate change articles from two newspapers published between 1988 and 2007, the Toronto Star, a regional newspaper, and the Globe and Mail, a national newspaper, were obtained. They were examined for aspects of climate change, including salience, image, scope, country representation, participants, and the origins of scientific information that was presented in the articles. Differences in the way climate change is portrayed between the newspapers at regional and national levels are also examined. Overall, climate change is portrayed similarly in the two newspapers as a large-scale (national and global) problem, despite the differences in audience scope. The Toronto Star exhibits a more national perspective with respect to climate change although it is a regional newspaper. Attention paid by the media to climate change increases from 1988-2007. Climate change is predominantly depicted in both newspapers as a destructive issue. There are linkages to other public issues, including those in international co-operation, science research and development, and energy and transportation. The analysis reveals that a number of non-government and government actors are concerned with climate change and a wider array of interest groups is becoming involved. Finally, the majority of the solution strategies presented in the articles focus on mitigation techniques, as opposed to adaptation strategies.

The new ecological paradigm and responses to climate change in China

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Xue ◽  
Anthony D.G. Marks ◽  
Donald W. Hine ◽  
Wendy J. Phillips ◽  
Shouying Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New Ecological Paradigm ◽  
Ecological Paradigm

Natural and human systems of the Andes under climate change: local detection and attribution assessment of impacts in physical, biological and human systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Ochoa-Sánchez ◽  
Fabian Drenkhan ◽  
Dáithí Stone ◽  
Daniel Mendoza ◽  
Ronald Gualán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
Andean Region ◽  
Detection And Attribution ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Human Systems

<p>Physical, biological, and human systems in mountain regions are highly sensitive to climate change due to strong feedbacks and low resilience. Detection of changes and attribution of them to climate and non-climate drivers provides ongoing monitoring of complex interactions of coupled natural and human systems and improving scientific assessments that inform mitigation and adaptation practices. In the IPCC 5<sup>th</sup> Assessment Report published in 2014, Central and South America was the region with the least evidence available for detection and attribution (D&A) of climate change impacts. Since then, much more evidence has accumulated due to an increasing number of studies detecting impacts in the Andean region. In this study, we therefore performed a systematic literature review of climate change impacts and made a local D&A expert impact assessment for a total of 12 natural and human systems in the Andes. We found the following confidence levels of detection and attribution of each impact for each system: medium and high, respectively, for energy; high and high, for snow and ice, tourism, and cultural values; high and medium for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, disasters, human health and migration; and medium and medium for agriculture and water systems. A total number of 65 sample impacts (in aggregate or case study form) could be attributed to climate change. Climate change was especially important in glacio-hydrological systems (49%) and terrestrial ecosystems (15%). Among the impacts that could be attributed to climate change with high confidence, snow and ice system dominated. About half of the total impact samples were attributed with medium confidence, of which 35% corresponded to water systems and 16% to agriculture. Finally, 14% of all impacts were assessed with low attribution confidence. Important results include: (1) glacier retreat leads to important cascading effects affecting most of the systems in the Andes; these impacts were primarily attributed to temperature increase caused by anthropogenic climate change; (2) numerous terrestrial and aquatic Andean ecosystems have been affected by climate change (e.g. upward plant colonization, changes in the abundance and distribution of species), and most of these impacts could be attributed to anthropogenic climate change; and (3) community changes and loss of cultural values are among the strongest impacts of human systems that were attributed to climate change; a broad set of studies detected that Andean communities perceived changes in their highly preserved long-standing cultural and spiritual rituals and cosmovision. These findings are key to understand current climate change impacts in the Andean region, and to advance our understanding of complex interactions of coupled natural and human systems in order to put particular attention on integrated scientific assessments and leverage local decision-making and management practices.</p>

The Beginnings of Islam in Afghanistan

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arezou Azad
Keyword(s):  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Political System ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Religious Context ◽  
Early Islam ◽  
History Of ◽  
Initial Conversion ◽  
The Way

Covering the period from 709 to 871, this chapter traces the initial conversion of Afghanistan from Zoroastrianism and Buddhism to Islam. Highlighting the differential developments in four regions of Afghanistan, it discusses the very earliest history of Afghan Islam both as a religion and as a political system in the form of a caliphate.  The chapter draws on under-utilized sources, such as fourth to eighth century Bactrian documents from Tukharistan and medieval Arabic and Persian histories of Balkh, Herat and Sistan. In so doing, it offers a paradigm shift in the way early Islam is understood by arguing that it did not arrive in Afghanistan as a finished product, but instead grew out of Afghanistan’s multi-religious context. Through fusions with Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, early Abrahamic traditions, and local cult practices, the Islam that resulted was less an Arab Islam that was imported wholesale than a patchwork of various cultural practices.

Political Preferences, Personality Traits, and Environmentalism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair Soutter ◽  
René Mõttus
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Environmental Attitudes ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
Party Voting

Although the scientific evidence of anthropogenic climate change continues to grow, public discourse still reflects a high level of scepticism and political polarisation towards anthropogenic climate change. In this study (N = 499) we attempted to replicate and expand upon an earlier finding that environmental terminology (“climate change” versus “global warming”) could partly explain political polarisation in environmental scepticism (Schuldt, Konrath, & Schwarz, 2011). Participants completed a series of online questionnaires assessing personality traits, political preferences, belief in environmental phenomenon, and various pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. Those with a Conservative political orientation and/or party voting believed less in both climate change and global warming compared to those with a Liberal orientation and/or party voting. Furthermore, there was an interaction between continuously measured political orientation, but not party voting, and question wording on beliefs in environmental phenomena. Personality traits did not confound these effects. Furthermore, continuously measured political orientation was associated with pro-environmental attitudes, after controlling for personality traits, age, gender, area lived in, income, and education. The personality domains of Openness, and Conscientiousness, were consistently associated with pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours, whereas Agreeableness was associated with pro-environmental attitudes but not with behaviours. This study highlights the importance of examining personality traits and political preferences together and suggests ways in which policy interventions can best be optimised to account for these individual differences.

scholarly journals Economic damages from Hurricane Sandy attributable to sea level rise caused by anthropogenic climate change

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin H. Strauss ◽  
Philip M. Orton ◽  
Klaus Bittermann ◽  
Maya K. Buchanan ◽  
Daniel M. Gilford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
East Coast ◽  
The United States ◽  
Hurricane Sandy ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
Economic Damage ◽  
Sea Levels

AbstractIn 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast of the United States, creating widespread coastal flooding and over $60 billion in reported economic damage. The potential influence of climate change on the storm itself has been debated, but sea level rise driven by anthropogenic climate change more clearly contributed to damages. To quantify this effect, here we simulate water levels and damage both as they occurred and as they would have occurred across a range of lower sea levels corresponding to different estimates of attributable sea level rise. We find that approximately $8.1B ($4.7B–$14.0B, 5th–95th percentiles) of Sandy’s damages are attributable to climate-mediated anthropogenic sea level rise, as is extension of the flood area to affect 71 (40–131) thousand additional people. The same general approach demonstrated here may be applied to impact assessments for other past and future coastal storms.

scholarly journals Anthropogenic climate change has changed frequency of past flood during 2010-2013

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukiko Hirabayashi ◽  
Haireti Alifu ◽  
Dai Yamazaki ◽  
Yukiko Imada ◽  
Hideo Shiogama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South America ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Flood Frequency ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Signal ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Large Ensemble ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe ongoing increases in anthropogenic radiative forcing have changed the global water cycle and are expected to lead to more intense precipitation extremes and associated floods. However, given the limitations of observations and model simulations, evidence of the impact of anthropogenic climate change on past extreme river discharge is scarce. Here, a large ensemble numerical simulation revealed that 64% (14 of 22 events) of floods analyzed during 2010-2013 were affected by anthropogenic climate change. Four flood events in Asia, Europe, and South America were enhanced within the 90% likelihood range. Of eight snow-induced floods analyzed, three were enhanced and four events were suppressed, indicating that the effects of climate change are more likely to be seen in the snow-induced floods. A global-scale analysis of flood frequency revealed that anthropogenic climate change enhanced the occurrence of floods during 2010-2013 in wide area of northern Eurasia, part of northwestern India, and central Africa, while suppressing the occurrence of floods in part of northeastern Eurasia, southern Africa, central to eastern North America and South America. Since the changes in the occurrence of flooding are the results of several hydrological processes, such as snow melt and changes in seasonal and extreme precipitation, and because a climate change signal is often not detectable from limited observation records, large ensemble discharge simulation provides insights into anthropogenic effects on past fluvial floods.

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