Transition as Cultural Revitalization: Exploring Social Motives for Environmental Movement Participation

This article explores the Transition movement for climate change resilience as a cultural revitalization movement that is unfolding in response to the unique problems and prospects of the Anthropocene era. Drawing on ethnographic research, I suggest that personal well-being and community cohesion ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature and culture 2021-06, Vol.16 (2), p.13-41
Main Author: Willow, Anna J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
20th century
Anthropocene
Behavior
Behavior change
Climate change
Cultural change
Culture
Environmental movements
Environmental protection
Ethnographic research
Ethnography
Global local relationship
Participation
Prospects
Psychological safety
Resilience
Resistance
Sense of community
Social activism
Society
Well being
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Summary:This article explores the Transition movement for climate change resilience as a cultural revitalization movement that is unfolding in response to the unique problems and prospects of the Anthropocene era. Drawing on ethnographic research, I suggest that personal well-being and community cohesion are essential motives for environmental movement participation. As Transition participants work to generate more satisfying cultural options, they relieve existential angst, reclaim the possibility of a positive future, create a safe space for radical resistance, and engender a simultaneously local and global sense of community. Ultimately, I argue that embracing environmental and (inter)personal action as both complementary and inextricably intertwined is essential if we are to catalyze the broad behavioral changes needed to evade catastrophic climate change and socioecological collapse.
ISSN:1558-6073
1558-5468
DOI:10.3167/nc.2021.160202