Loss and climate change: the cost of parallel narratives. An article that explores theories of loss in relation to climate change
November 1, 2009 § 3 Comments
Can psychoanalytic theories about loss help us deal with climate change? In a paper “Loss and climate change: the cost of parallel narratives” due to be published shortly in the online journal Ecopsychology I suggest that it can.
Climate change discourses present us with two parallel narratives, one about the problems of climate change, the other about the solutions. When media commentators discuss the problem of climate change, loss often features dramatically and terrifyingly in their stories but is located in the future or in places remote from Western audiences. In narratives about solutions – particularly in the discourse of government – loss is completely excised and we are encouraged to believe that ‘small steps’, technical wizardry or perhaps the pursuit of happiness will do the trick.
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Rosemary Randall 
Fragile selves and stuff we buy
July 15, 2010 § Leave a comment
Psychoanalysis has a complex view of the human psyche and its motivations. Its theories assume that we do not necessarily know ourselves well, that we hide our less worthy motives from ourselves, repress our unacceptable passions and that our sense of self may be contingent and fragile. How might such theories help us understand issues of identity in relation to climate change?
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