Part of the reason I decided to take ENVS160 was due to the interdisciplinarity I heard so much about. Connections between concepts have always intrigued me. When reflecting on the key ideas I’ve learned thus far, it was difficult to narrow it down to three ideas, as all the small things I’ve learned somehow connect to one another. For me, the main challenge with communicating interdisciplinary ideas, including through this post, is making connections between concepts in a way that is understandable for others. Every person’s mind is flexible in a different way, and understanding the schemas and the ways other people understand the world is a difficult task.
Ironically, one of the key lessons I learned revolves around the importance of attempting to understand how other people view the world. When thinking about why the idea of climate change is controversial, Why We Disagree About Climate Change emphasized the importance of understanding context (Hulme 2009). Employing humility while examining the various lenses through which people view climate change helped me understand that the people who don’t seem to care as much about climate change aren’t necessarily bad people, they may just have other pressing concerns. Also, recognizing that different contexts will require different actions has made action seem less daunting (Steinberg 2015).
I came into Environmental Studies with ideas that resonated with the individual action side of the Ecotypes scale axis, and several readings (e.g. Steinberg 2015, Phillips 2014, Maniates 2001) challenged that. I left class today wondering how I can personally can take action. I now realize that many of the ways I envisioned making a difference pre-ENVS included acting as a consumer rather than a citizen. However, I don’t think there needs to be a dichotomy between consuming and being a citizen. As humans, we consume many products, often without fully realizing where they come from, and an awareness about the source and life cycle of products is something I still believe to be important. Influencing policy is increasingly important, but especially in this political climate, I don’t know how to make my voice heard other than through my vote. In class today, the idea of donating to contribute to institutional change was briefly discussed, though that muddled my thoughts about consumerism and being an active citizen. In my head, consumers deal with money while citizens deal with policy, but perhaps these ideas can intersect, since institutions such as nonprofit organizations still require money to make ecological changes.
Another shift in my own perceptions revolves around the root of action. It would be lovely if every human wanted to protect biodiversity and reduce anthropogenic change because they felt a spiritual connection to nonhuman entities, but I’m gradually coming to the conclusion that action doesn’t require everyone to think in the same way as I do. In the case of environmental justice, action is more important than thought. Action is needed to make change, whereas thought doesn’t always lead to change. Thoughts do have tremendous importance, for people act based on their thoughts, but educating people about various environmental problems while still taking action is the best route to secure our future.
Citations
Hulme, Mike. 2009. Why We Disagree about Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Phillips, Leigh. 2014. Austerity Ecology & The Collapse-Porn Addicts: A Defense of Growth, Progress, Industry and Stuff. Zero Books.
Steinberg, Paul. 2015. Who Rules the Earth? How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press