Loading...
Humanities for the environment—A manifesto for research and action
Holm, Poul Adamson, Joni Huang, Hsinya Kirdan, Lars Kitch, Sally McCalman, Iain Duncan Ogude, James Ronan, Marisa Scott, Dominic Thompson, Kirill Ole
Holm, Poul
Adamson, Joni
Huang, Hsinya
Kirdan, Lars
Kitch, Sally
McCalman, Iain Duncan
Ogude, James
Ronan, Marisa
Scott, Dominic
Thompson, Kirill Ole
Abstract
Human preferences, practices and actions are the main drivers of global environmental change in the 21st century. It is crucial, therefore, to promote pro-environmental behavior. In order to accomplish this, we need to move beyond rational choice and behavioral decision theories, which do not capture the full range of commitments, assumptions, imaginaries, and belief systems that drive those preferences and actions. Humanities disciplines, such as philosophy, history, religious studies, gender studies, language and literary studies, psychology, and pedagogics do offer deep insights into human motivations, values, and choices. We believe that the expertise of such fields for transforming human preferences, practices and actions is ignored at society’s peril. We propose an agenda that focuses global humanities research on stepping up to the challenges of planetary environmental change. We have established Environmental Humanities Observatories through which to observe, explore and enact the crucial ways humanistic disciplines may help us understand and engage with global ecological problems by providing insight into human action, perceptions, and motivation. We present this Manifesto as an invitation for others to join the “Humanities for the Environment” open global consortium of humanities observatories as we continue to develop a shared research agenda.
Keywords
humanities for the environment, global change, observatories
Date
2015
Type
Journal article
Journal
Humanities
Book
Volume
4
Issue
4
Page Range
977-992
Article Number
ACU Department
Collections
Relation URI
DOI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Open access
License
File Access
Open