(ENV7) Mental Health, Culture, and the Environment

This session blends sociology of culture, sociology of mental health, and environmental sociology perspectives on the topic of the environment, climate change, and environmental crises. Culture forms one central basis of how people think about and act in relation to the natural environment and environmental degradation. Environmental sociology examines how societies can produce problematic consequences for the natural environment. Climate change, ecosystem deterioration, and biodiversity loss have increasingly led to eco-anxiety, eco-grief, and other forms of distress. The session analyzes the emotional dimensions of dealing with and confronting socio-environmental issues in the face of mounting ecological crises. It addresses the motivation for political and ethical transformation (in the tradition begun by Ashlee Cunsolo and co-authors). We start by clarifying the concept of ecogrief and discussing its links to settler colonialism and neoliberal capitalism. Two case studies follow, regarding a feeling of loss of nature and place amongst baby boomers and women’s experience of flooding. We then consider escapism in the portrayal of environmental catastrophe in the multiverse. We conclude by returning to capitalism and its links to environmental problems, exploring ethical consumption as a possible but complicated solution. Mental health, culture, and environmental themes are woven throughout the presentations. Tags: Environment, Health and Care

Organizers: Tyler Bateman, University of Toronto, Lisa Seiler, York University, Sonia Bookman, University of Manitoba, Taylor Price, New York University; Chair: Lisa Seiler, York University

Presentations

Sarah Law, Simon Fraser University

Queer and Feminist Care Practices at the End of The World

As Lauren Berlant writes, crisis has become ordinary (2011). Learning to live with impending catastrophe is a defining characteristic of our historical moment. As climate impacts worsen, ecological grief (eco grief) grows in the place of hope for the future. Feelings of despair, anger, stress, fear and hopelessness intensify alongside rising sea levels, wildfires, droughts, and air quality advisory warnings. Most notably developed by Ashlee Cunsolo and co-authours, eco grief is currently understood as a psychological response to the loss experienced and anticipated due to climate change. However, feelings of “world-ending” are not new –– they have long plagued marginalized peoples whose lands are occupied by settler states, climate refugees and migrants, and populations who have experienced mass deaths from preventable diseases. As they come to the forefront of concern for the Global North, the political feelings associated with existential dread, death, and dying have become popularized. Related terms such as solastalgia, eco anxiety, eco dread, and climate anxiety have lacked conceptual clarity, often resulting in interchangeable use and an urge within the social sciences to define and delineate. I offer an understanding of eco grief through feminist theories of affect as a socio-politically and culturally informed response to the climate crisis moving through phases of (1) fear and urgency (2) denial and overwhelm (3) frustration and bargaining (4) despair and depression (5) anger and rage. I frame eco grief as a continuous cycle of practice: an embodied response that moves, informs, and shapes how we come to understand the climate crisis as a consequence of settler colonial occupation and neoliberal capitalism. In this model, eco grief surfaces as a political feeling that mourns environmental loss, hopes for the future, and disrupts deeply held beliefs about our social realities. I develop this paper based on my undergraduate honours thesis Resistance and Resilience in the Era of Ecological Grief (2022) interview data with climate justice activists in “Vancouver”, designed with a desire-based framework (Tuck, 2009) and the radical imagination (Marcuse, 1972). Through dreaming up just climate futures and identifying the obstacles that impede materializing these visions, I look to the sociality of emotion as a cycle that is active—that moves and points us to structural failures. In this conceptualization, eco grief is a more-than-individual phenomenon. As such, this paper frames grief not as a journey towards acceptance, but as a social practice that holds the multitude of emotions that overlap and shape our grief; inclusive of a loss of hope, faith in market-based solutions, resentment against settler institutions, frustration with political inaction, and the betrayals of corporate greenwashing. To intervene in the neoliberal imperative to turn inwards and towards the self, I argue for using theories of affect to understand climate emotions during this critical moment. Feminist theories of affect provide frameworks for analyzing the object of our emotions, allowing us to better understand what our emotions do rather than what they are. In this paper, I emphasize the importance of moving towards a conceptualization of feeling that attends to power relations, resists pathologizing political feelings, and re-politicizes mental health beyond liberal wellness and therapeutic practices.

Fatemeh Zahmatkesh, Memorial University

Exploring Environmental Grief Among Baby Boomers: A Study of Nature Loss

Increasing evidence from case study research shows multiple factors influence ecological grief, with environmental, social, and cultural contexts playing significant roles. Environmental grief is the emotional distress, sorrow, and mourning that people and communities face because of environmental losses caused by climate change. These losses vary from the loss of habitats and ecosystems to pollution and environmental disasters. For this research, I investigated the phenomenon of environmental grief among baby boomers. The reason is that this generation witnessed major environmental changes during their lives, and, compared to the younger generation, many of them spent more time outdoors throughout their childhood. Having experienced the long-term consequences of climate change, they are more aware of the issue, and, as a result, they might feel a deeper sense of loss. Finally, as they approach an older age, they will feel a sense of regret, sadness, and grief. My focus was on the emotional impact of losing the natural environment that they cherished as a child or young adult. Their environmental grief is exhibited in different ways, which include feelings of sadness, anxiety, guilt, anger, or hopelessness. This mirrors the emotional connections between people and their surrounding environment. I used the qualitative method to understand how these individuals navigate their feelings about grief and nostalgia for losing nature. Through in-depth interviews and narrative analysis, I explored how their grief affected their mental health and well-being. Investigating their lived experience shows the importance of mental health in defiance of environmental changes. In an era of environmental crisis, the findings can offer insight into the challenges these individuals face in mourning the loss of nature. I interviewed eighteen individuals between the ages of fifty and seventy. Five of the participants were men, and thirteen of them were women. They were all from the same province in Iran, but their professions varied. I found that for most of the participants, the non-economic value that they assigned to the place played an important role. These values come from their personal lived experience as well as cultural values. Because of the major changes as a result of climate change and degradation, they reported feeling disconnected from places that previously had symbolic and emotional meaning for them. Some participants mentioned how land use change resulted in losing some vegetation, trees, and birds they used to see when they were young. Among all the participants, those who came from a background in farming and fishing and those who were raised in coastal communities seemed to be more aware of environmental changes than others. In some cases, the places identity was disrupted, and how they framed the loss seemed to be connected to collective identities and cultural practices. The likelihood of experiencing ecological grief is expected to increase globally, a trend already acknowledged in some cultures. This study highlights the multifaceted aspects of ecological grief and how people view these changes through their lived experiences. The importance of place identity, meaning, and attachment can help us make sense of environmental grief in a swiftly changing environment marked by growing uncertainty.

Typhaine Leclerc, Université du Québec à Montréal

Flood narratives and their role in recovery and resilience trajectories of disaster-stricken women in Beauce

Extreme weather events (EWE) such as heat waves, storms, floods, and droughts, are destabilizing incidents that can impact mental health and well-being for affected populations. Disasters are often understood as discrete events, with a beginning and an end, after which disaster-stricken communities can take steps to recover. Yet disasters are often part of a broader pattern of adversity caused by poverty and social inequality, global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Lawrence-Bourne et al., 2020), or other disasters – increasingly so, as climate change leads to EWEs becoming more frequent and severe (GIEC, 2021). EWEs’ effects on health and well-being are not evenly distributed in affected populations, as social conditions are a main determinant of disaster vulnerability (Rushton et al., 2020). Groups and individuals dealing with the most intense hazards impacts are those who already find themselves in unfavorable situations for reasons linked to geography, poverty, gender, race, age, disability, or cultural affiliation (Chaplin et al., 2019; Hrabok et al., 2020). Social and psychological resilience researcher Michael Ungar has defined resilience as “the outcome of negotiations between individuals and their environments to maintain a self-definition as healthy” (Ungar, 2004, p. 81). Bioethicist and medicine philosopher Fredrik Svenaeus (2013) posits that when we are “healthy”, we feel “at home” in the world. This feeling of homelikeness generally remains in the background, in transparency of our experience of the world, as long as it is not unsettled by illness or other major events. Disruptions to the state of health or balance are manifested by a feeling of “unhomelike being-in-the-world” (Svenaeus, 2013, p. 102). EWE can disrupt both the sense of being “at home” in the world and feelings of safety related to the places people call home. The research focuses on the psychosocial impacts of river Chaudière floods on women in Beauce (QC), and the stories they tell about what they lived through. Seventeen women who have been subjected to one or more flooding events in Beauce participated in semi-structured interviews during which they were invited to share stories of their experience and recovery process. A feminist narrative framework guided analysis, allowing us to identify different phases participants navigated, impacts of the floods on their wellbeing and functioning at different points in time, and strategies levied for recovery. Participants’ experiences of floods and ensuing consequences vary depending on the material constraints that mark their existence (e.g. socioeconomic status, age, disability, household structure, etc.), the social expectations they face (e.g. as workers, mothers, citizens, etc.), and their self-perceptions (e.g. as a resilient person, as a Beauceronne, as a good mother). This presentation will offer an overview of these consequences on women’s wellbeing, including factors of vulnerability and protection, and center on participants’ recovery processes. Various material and discursive strategies adopted by participants to make sense of their experience, rebuild their homes, and rebuild their sense of security after major floods will be discussed, for example, putting oneself in the place of others; talking, writing, and creating about their experience; taking ownership of their living space; and taking action to feel safe despite flood risk. A narrative research approach makes it possible to delve into participants’ incarnated experiences of flooding and its psychosocial consequences. It allows to collect rich and singular accounts of experience, including recovery strategies that have not been documented before. In offering space for a diversity of EWE accounts, this research also makes the differentiated effects of EWEs more tangible. The projects knowledge transfer strategies aim to make these multiple experiences better known to the public and to those involved in managing floods and other crises. Taking into account a greater diversity of experiences during crises would promote more equitable care for those affected in the short, medium and long term.

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Non-presenting authors: Lily Lessard, UQAR; Johanne Saint-Charles, UQAM

Ondine Park, University of British Columbia

Cartoon Multiverses in the Context of Environmental Crises: New Doors Opening or Fantastic Endings?

In this talk, I describe and interpret the representation of multiverses in a number of animated TV shows. In particular, I consider more fully-developed, multi-episode depictions of the multiverse such as in Adventure Time , Rick and Morty , and Fionna and Cake , as well as the more incidental depictions in a selection of other animated shows, including Futurama . In these depictions, the multiverse is a fact. That is, the reality of the vast universe in which each story unfolds (and presumably, the one in which we, as viewers, are also located) is only one of at least two, but usually more – in some cases, an infinite number of – other simultaneous and fully spatialized universes which can be accessed through some kind of portal. In Rick and Morty , the multiverse is represented as an infinite number of fully formed universes that have varying degrees of similarity with the familiar universe. The variations between universes range from minor differences from the familiar universe (e.g., a world in which the single difference is that the word “parmesan” is pronounced “par-MEE-zi-an”) to more substantial variations (e.g., a world in which humans evolved from corn) to extreme variations (e.g., a blender world, which is never shown on-screen but which is implied to be made entirely of blenders blending). In general, the multiverse comes to be made known through a dire event, usually a catastrophe. And, this knowledge of the multiverse and the capacity to access other worlds pose grim cataclysmic threat to the familiar world, many worlds, or all worlds. Knowledge and traverse of the multiverse confer profound power and impose immense responsibility on those who know and can access the many worlds. Thus, in Adventure Time , the cosmic evil entity, the Lich, who is driven to destroy all life, successfully uses deception and magic to open the portal that gives access to all worlds and thus the possibility of extinguishing life in all realities. Similarly, in Rick and Morty , the scientist-inventor/adventurer/grandfather Rick, who is one of the few who has the capacity to open portals between worlds at will, is possibly the entity that poses the most significant existential threat to inhabitants across the various dimensions, and in particular to other versions of himself and his family members. In Futurama , a lesson is provisionally learned about how precarious the many worlds become once the fact of the multiverse becomes known and the thresholds between worlds are crossable. In particular, the scientist-inventor and package delivery company owner Professor Farnsworth accidentally creates a box that contains another universe (nick-named “Universe 1”) that, in turn, contains a box in which the familiar universe (“Universe A”) is contained. Following some hijinks, the Professor creates a number of additional boxes, each containing an alternate reality. Through the events of the episode, the characters come to realize the existential risk of having inhabitants in a different universe responsible for the box containing one’s own universe, and thus manage to flip the boxes inside-out so that each respective universe contains the box that contains that universe itself (i.e., whereas before the inversion, Universe A contained the box that contained Universe 1; afterwards, Universe A contains the box that contains Universe A). I explore some of the conceptualization of the multiverse in theoretical physics alongside social theoretical works on doorways, spatiality, and temporality, in relation to these representations of multiverses to think about the complexities of ordinary places and sites of everyday life, particularly in the wake of such ongoing cataclysms as colonialism, Capitalism, and environmental destruction. In particular, I suggest, multiverses enable an undoing of the centrality and necessity of any singular configuration, interpretation, use, or understanding of space and suggests possibilities of recognizing and operating in relation to incongruous logics and imaginaries without dismissing, submerging, or minimizing any at the expense of other, even dominant, ones. In this way, multiplicities of spatio-temporalities and the many scales, dimensions and realities that are simultaneously producing space(s) can be taken as equally real or potential, even if not necessarily easy to access. I also ask, however, if the notable proliferation of multiverses (and the seeming inevitability of calamity attending the multiverse) both within any given cultural text and across media in the last several years in which environmental crises in particular have also been noticeably proliferating suggest that rather than expanding horizons and possibilities, that multiverses instead reflect a ruinous desire for escape and illustrate inevitable catastrophe?

Brody Trottier, University of Toronto

#NoEthicalConsumption: Discourses on Consumer Capitalism, Environment, and Social Change on TikTok

Alongside a growing consciousness of the social and environmental problems associated with consumer goods, there is an increasingly salient belief that individual consumers should make ethical and political considerations when purchasing to influence change (Johnston 2008; Johnston and Szabo 2011). Despite the prevalence of notions such as ‘voting with your dollar’, this individualized notion of political change is frequently challenged for shifting blame away from the world’s largest corporations and wealthiest individuals (Davies, Hernandez, and Wyatt 2019). Scholars of consumer society (Carrington, Zwick, and Neville 2016; Davies, Hernandez, and Wyatt 2019; Johnston and Szabo 2011) frequently argue that an inequitable and unsustainable economic system is to blame for social and environmental problems rather than individual consumers who are limited in their ability to influence change through their shopping habits. While these critiques of ethical consumerism are not new, the emergence of these critiques in popular discourse is a novel and (potentially) politically significant development. For example, the slogan, “ there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, ” (NECUC) has amassed popularity on social media platforms such as Tik Tok and Twitter (Lewis 2021; Pape 2018). This critical popular discourse suggests that ethical consumerism merely helps sustain the destructive system of consumer capitalism at the very root of social and environmental problems. Moreover, this discourse is potentially linked with a sense of fatalism, hopelessness, or political alienation in relation to climate change — particularly prevalent among youth and young adults (Brophy, Olson, and Paul 2023; Hickman et al. 2021; Ojala 2012). In light of this emerging discourse, this paper asks (1) How do people engage in a public social media debate about the potential of individuals to impact social and political change through consumption? To answer this question, this paper examines debates about ethical consumption on social media through a discourse analysis of 60 TikTok videos that employ the hashtag #noethicalconsumption. My preliminary analysis shows that this hashtag encompasses contention to the meaning of the NECUC slogan, as well as an array of distinct orientations to this debate including (1) an uncritical embrace of the NECUC slogan as a critique of consumer capitalism and a rejection that individual consumption habits can impact social or political change; (2) a full rejection the NECUC slogan, emphasizing the importance of individual consumption habits for impacting social or political change; and (3) a partial agreement with the NECUC slogan, with caveats and critical objections. Of these three orientations, the latter reveals a diverse array of understanding of who is responsible for the social and environmental harms associated with consumer capitalism and the moral responsibility of individual consumers to address and alleviate these harms. Notably, a cruelly optimistic (Berlant 2011; Ruti 2018) attitude towards ethical consumption appears which suggests that engaging in ethical consumerism is futile, but nevertheless advocates for ‘voting with your dollar’ as a moral imperative to those with the means of doing so. This analysis is particularly relevant to the theme of this year’s CSA, by analyzing the hopes and fears surrounding the possibility of a sustainable and equitable future.