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Peace Psychology in Australia pp 285–303Cite as

Australia’s Relationship with the Land: Reckoning with Climate Change

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Abstract

The escalating threat of climate change pushes peace psychologists to face a new challenge: to expand the concept of peace beyond traditional frameworks of human relations and pursue the goal of peaceful existence within global ecosystems. Australia’s rich cultural history, contemporary political context and delicate, dynamic environment offer both tools and motivations for exploring this emerging future of peace psychology. This chapter argues that despite its grave threats, climate change also presents an unprecedented opportunity to generate more peaceful relationships, both between humans and with the ecosystems we depend upon. Using theories of moral inclusion, self-efficacy and the contact hypothesis, the chapter examines why particular cultural practices in pre-colonial Australia were useful in making peace with the environment. Drawing from these Indigenous traditions, suggestions are made for future areas of research for peace-builders who wish to expand their scope of practice beyond humanitarianism to aim for a more inclusive form of ecological peacebuilding.

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Notes

  1. 1.

     For a more comprehensive discussion on this topic, see Rodrigues (2010).

  2. 2.

     For ethnographic analyses of intragroup and cross-community relations in Indigenous societies, see Chap. 2, Bishop and Coburn, this volume; Mulligan and Hill (2001), Rowley (1970), and Trigger and Griffiths (2003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Community Works, Associates, West Melbourne, Australia

    Maria Rodrigues

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  1. Maria Rodrigues
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Correspondence to Maria Rodrigues .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, 4072, Queensland, Australia

    Diane Bretherton

  2. , School of Law, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3086, Victoria, Australia

    Nikola Balvin

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Rodrigues, M. (2012). Australia’s Relationship with the Land: Reckoning with Climate Change. In: Bretherton, D., Balvin, N. (eds) Peace Psychology in Australia. Peace Psychology Book Series. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1403-2_16

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