individualization
Debra Javeline
Dear Michael and all,
I was excited to have Michael chime in, because I thought he might offer a different perspective based on the 2001 GEP article on individualization. Curbing our flying behavior is undoubtedly more consequential than recycling (or even planting a tree, buying a bike, etc.), but is it the best use of our collective energy to focus on individual responsibility? If the issues are mainly structural and institutional, are these “to fly or not to fly” debates a distraction from the bigger debates about how we could collectively influence outcomes, if at all?
(I do understand that discussions about flying involve changing our professional institutions, but in the grand scheme of atmospheric collapse and our limited time and energy, don’t political institutions matter more?)
I don’t have answers or judgment. I do less frequent conference and research travel than most, I have been a vegetarian for 35 years, and I don’t even own a smart phone (due to concern about e-waste – my 15-year-old flip phone still works, and I don’t even use that phone too much, preferring to look up and around). But… I have three kids with Western consumption patterns, so the planet isn’t necessarily better off for having me in it.
Like many of us, I struggle with “walking the walk,” but what kind of walk? Michael’s ideas about political action (and others who write in the same spirit) seem worthy of attention.
All the best,
Debra
*****
Debra Javeline
Associate Professor | Department of Political Science | University of Notre Dame | 2060 Jenkins Nanovic Halls | Notre Dame, IN 46556 | tel: 574-631-2793
Fellow, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Nanovic Institute for European Studies
Core faculty, Russian and East European Studies Program
Affiliated faculty, Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative
Linda Shi
-------------------
Linda Shi
Assistant Professor
Department of City and Regional Planning
Cornell University
213 Sibley Hall
Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2019 12:53 PM
To: ''GEP-Ed List''
Subject: [gep-ed] individualization
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Susanne Moser
Thanks everyone for interesting contributions to this discussion and the many kind responses I have gotten privately.
I wanted to offer a resource as well, somewhat countering the (inaccurate or at least incomplete) interpretation of my intervention as individualization. In that post I spoke of the personal and professional and systemic places we need to reflect on.
That said, there is a great need, it strikes me, to continue these conversations - with students, our colleagues, our administrators and so on, in many more places - until we raise enough collective awareness and momentum to get to real change. And we don't have all the time in the world to do that!
So, here is my resource to support that: For
the last 4+ years, I have been part of something called the Council
on the Uncertain Human Future, an amazing group of women
(but many other councils since have been co-ed, so no
restrictions there!) doing some deep talking and reckoning with
where we're at and what we want to do about it - individually
and collectively. There is no reason such a discussion could not
be more narrowly defined around who we are as a profession and
how we nourish and foster our intellectual contribution to
society WHILE reducing our collective carbon footprint on the
Earth. The format is ancient and pan-cultural and it works for
any topic!
The council website has reading materials, a
guide to facilitating councils - a unique equalizing format that
in and of itself will be curative for us heady types , guiding
questions (which can be modified, of course), and videos to give
you a sense of what they're like. They have been conducted at
universities, with students, faculty (physical, natural social
scientists and humanists), mixed student/faculty/admin groups,
with activists, and community members- they also exist now
around this country and abroad.
In my experience, ongoing councils go deeper; they can easily accommodate the emotional impacts of working on climate change that Kate points to from that Mother Jones article, as well as the tensions we experience between what we feel we must, want and should do re: air travel. They can get practical, but more than anything, they offer a way to safely break the silence on these difficult issues.
And wouldn't that be great modeling for others?!
Best,
Susi
Hi all,
To chime in with Kathy Harrison’s point re APSA, I’m hoping to follow my predecessors as ESS chair to keep prodding this on the ISA agenda - I think ISA has the same problems with the Convention hotels (after all actually having the ability to do powerpoint presentations is fairly recent). We have tried it out for a few people at GEP board meetings over the years, in part for accessibility. But it speaks to all the larger problems with Convention hotels - e.g. labor practices and everything else that goes along with them. But solutions, such as bolstering regional conferences, are out there.
On the campus side, the University of California is including an offset program for administrative travel I believe (for the rest of us they’ve done it by slashing our travel budgets, did I say that out loud?). But again, the UC system has an ambitious climate goal being undermined by climate change itself - UC Berkeley has traditionally been an air-conditioning free zone but we’re starting to need to reconsider this, and quickly. In other words, there are lots of larger struggles going on as well at this institutional level, and that’s the one I see as currently most important.
It’s really difficult as everyone points out - perhaps some of you have seen this piece in Mother Jones which came out just now and is very relevant to much of our work, on emotional and psychological on climate scientists (some really interesting points on how to teach future climate scientists - social, natural, humanities). Hopefully we’re coming to a point where we know we need to buy each other up rather than knock each other down, and those strategies are available.
Best to all,
Kate
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-- Susanne C. Moser, Ph.D. Director, Susanne Moser Research & Consulting Web: www.susannemoser.com Email: prom...@susannemoser.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If there is one thing you watch, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAmmUIEsN9A&feature=youtu.be
Kate O'NEILL
On Jul 11, 2019, at 9:21 AM, Linda Shi <lind...@cornell.edu> wrote:
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Travis Stills
Good luck to those who are teaching, writing, researching,
organizing, or taking direct action on climate change issues
(whether through GND or not) with an eye toward unions and union
membership.
You have your work cut out for you.
The critical examination of unions and union-busting institutions
(and social phenomena) is important to inform the green and the
blue, and I hope to see helpful links posted on this list.
Travis
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