Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Knowing and Not Knowing About Anthropogenic Ecological Crisis

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Ecological Crisis, Sustainability and the Psychosocial Subject

Part of the book series: Studies in the Psychosocial ((STIP))

  • 1122 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter extends an analysis of the affective dynamics involved in responding and not responding to ecological crisis. There is a mounting body of empirical work that utilises defence mechanisms as ways of categorising and interpreting research findings in this area, if not necessarily engaging with a psychoanalytic framework more deeply. This research attempts to identify defence mechanisms as a primary cause of inaction and (apparent) indifference in response to ecological degradation. When Michael Rustin asks ‘can a psychoanalytic perspective on [climate change] enable us to see anything we might not otherwise have noticed?’ (2010, 475), the answer, increasingly, seems to be in the affirmative. This chapter provides an overview and appraisal of psychoanalytically informed theory and research in this area.

We know it, but we cannot make ourselves believe in what we know. (Žižek 2009, p. 454)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    According to Hackmann and St. Clair (2012, p. 19), one of the ‘transformative cornerstones’ of social science research agenda is interpretation and subjective sense making, which ‘he personal and collective values, beliefs, assumptions, interests, worldviews, hopes, needs and desires that underlie people’s experiences of and responses – or lack of responses – to processes of global change’. Questions arising from this cornerstone, Hackmann and St. Clair assert, include those concerned with ‘scepticism and denialism in the face of potentially cataclysmic processes of climate change’ (2012, p. 19).

  2. 2.

    For the most part, recent work does not engage with the complex detail of the psychoanalytic theory in which the concept of defence mechanisms originated. The specific types of anxiety that supposedly give rise to various mechanisms and their relationship to a psychoanalytic model of self, developed, for example, in Anna Freud’s work (Freud 1936), are rarely revisited. Similarly, most accounts focus on a handful of mechanisms, namely denial, disavowal, projection and splitting.

  3. 3.

    Anna Freud described it as the ‘simplest defence mechanism’ (1936, p. 93); a necessarily infantile form of defence subsequently abandoned for more complex operations. In her attempt to characterize defence mechanisms in a hierarchical form, from least to most complex, Cramer similarly locates denial as a low-level defence, established early in life, and successfully adaptive at this stage, but used minimally or as a maladaptive response in later life (Cramer 1987; Cramer and Block 1998). Though this portrayal skates over numerous complexities and contingencies (Cramer 2000, p. 643), there does appear to be consensus that denial is a primary and formative defence mechanism.

  4. 4.

    The concept of splitting is indebted to Melanie Klein’s work on early child development (e.g. Klein 1946, 1952, 1957); and elaborated in object relations theory (e.g. Fairbairn 1949; Kernberg 1976; Greenberg 1983; Guntrip 1992).

  5. 5.

    In both cases there are clear cases to be made where this is literally true – the developed North is more responsible for climate change than the developing or underdeveloped South; whilst, on the whole, the latter is the most exposed to those consequences – the infamous ‘double injustice’ of climate change (Gough 2011).

  6. 6.

    How sociocultural contexts, including dominant narratives, shape denial is the focus of Chapter 8.

References

  • Akhtar, S. (2009). Comprehensive dictionary of psychoanalysis. London: Karnac Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billig, M. (1999). Commodity fetishism and repression: Reflections on Marx, Freud and the psychology of consumer capitalism. Theory & Psychology, 9(3), 313–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackman, J. (2004). 101 defences: How the mind shields itself. Hove: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, A. J. (1998). Defence mechanisms in the counseling process. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S. (1996). Government responses to human rights reports: Claims, denials, and counterclaims. Human Rights Quarterly, 18(3), 517–543.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S. (2001). States of denial: Knowing about atrocities and suffering. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S. (2013). Discussion. In S. Weintrobe (Ed.), Engaging with climate change: Psychoanalytic and interdiscipinary perspectives (pp. 72–79). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, S. H. (1998). Changing notions of defence within psychoanalytic theory. Journal of Personality, 66(6), 947–964.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cramer, P. (1987). The development of defense mechanisms. Journal of Personality, 55(4), 597–614.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cramer, P. (2000). Defense mechanisms in psychology today: Further processes for adaptation. American Psychologist, 55(6), 637.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cramer, P. (2006). Protecting the self: Defence mechanisms in action. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cramer, P., & Block, J. (1998). Preschool antecedents of defense mechanism use in young adults: A longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(1), 159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickinson, J. L. (2009b). The people paradox: Self-esteem striving, immortality ideologies, and human response to climate change. Ecology and Society, 14(1), 34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diethelm, P., & McKee, M. (2009). Denialism: What is it and how should scientists respond? The European Journal of Public Health, 19(1), 2–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dunlap, R. E. (2013). Climate change skepticism and denial: An introduction. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(6), 691–698.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunlap, R. E., & McCright, A. M. (2010). Climate change denial: Sources, actors and strategies. In C. Lever-Tracy (Ed.), Routledge handbook of climate change and society (pp. 240–259). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbairn, W. R. D. (1949). Steps in the development of an object‐relations theory of the personality. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 22(1–2), 26–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleurbaey, M., Kartha, S., Bolwig, S., Chee, Y. L., Chen, Y., Corbera, E., Lecocq, F., Lutz, W., Muylaert, M. S., Norgaard, R. B., Okereke, C., & Sagar, A. D. (2014). Sustainable development and equity. In O. Edenhofer, R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel, & J. C. Minx (Eds.), Climate change 2014: Mitigation of climate change. Contribution of Working Group III to the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freud, A. (1936) [1968]. The ego and the mechanisms of defence (trans: Baines, C.). London: Hogarth Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freud, S. (1896). Further remarks on the neuro-psychoses of defence (trans: Strachey, J.). In The standard edition of the complete works of Sigmund Freud, vol. 3. (1968) (pp. 162–85). London: Hogarth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freud, S. (1926). The question of lay analysis (trans: Strachey, J.). In Penguin Freud library, vol. 15, Historical and expository works. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gough, I. (2011). Climate change, double injustice and social policy: A case study of the United Kingdom. Geneva: UNRISD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, J. (1983). Object relations in psychoanalytic theory. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guntrip, H. (1992). Schizoid phenomena, object relations and the self. New York: Karnac Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hackmann, H., & St. Clair, A. L. (2012). Transformative cornerstones of social science research for global change. (International Social Science Council). http://www.worldsocialscience.org/documents/transformative-cornerstones.pdf. Accessed 18 Dec 2015.

  • Hamilton, C. (2012). What history can teach us about climate change denial. In S. Weintrobe (Ed.), Engaging with climate change: Psychoanalytic & interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 16–32). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, C. (2013). What history can teach us about climate change denial. In S. Weintrobe (Ed.), Engaging with climate change: Psychoanalytic & interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 16–32). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanson-Easey, S., Williams, S., Hansen, A., Fogarty, K., & Bi, P. (2015). Speaking of climate change: A discursive analysis of lay understandings. Science Communication, 37(2), 217–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobson, K., & Niemeyer, S. (2013). “What sceptics believe”: The effects of information and deliberation on climate change skepticism. Public Understanding of Science, 22(4), 396–412.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoggett, P. (2012). Climate change in a perverse culture. In S. Weintrobe (Ed.), Engaging with climate change: Psychoanalytic and interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 56–71). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollander, N. C. (2009). When not knowing allies with destructiveness: Global warning and psychoanalytic ethical non-neutrality. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 6(1), 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacques, P., Dunlap, R. E., & Freeman, M. (2008). The organization of denial: Conservative think tanks and environmental scepticism. Environmental Politics, 17, 349–385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaspal, R., Nerlich, B., & Koteyko, N. (2012). Contesting science by appealing to its norms: Readers discuss climate science in The Daily Mail. Science Communication, 25, 383–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kernberg, O. (1976). Object relations theory and clinical psychoanalysis. New York: Jason Aronson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, M. (1946a). Notes on some schizoid mechanisms. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 27, 99–110.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klein, M. (1952). The origins of transference. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 33, 433–438.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klein, M. (1957). Envy and gratitude. A study of unconscious sources. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, N. (2014). This changes everything. Capital vs the climate. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lertzman, R. (2008, June 9). The myth of apathy. The Ecologist. http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/other_comments/269433/the_myth_of_apathy.html. Accessed 18 Dec 2015.

  • Lertzman, R. (2015). Environmental melancholia: Psychoanalytic dimensions of engagement. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leviston, Z., & Walker, I. (2012). Beliefs and denials about climate change: An Australian perspective. Ecopsychology, 4(4), 277–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewandowsky, S., Oberauer, K., & Gignac, G. E. (2013). NASA faked the moon landing – Therefore, (climate) science is a hoax an anatomy of the motivated rejection of science. Psychological Science, 24(5), 622–633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzoni, I., Nicholson-Cole, S., & Whitmarsh, L. (2007). Barriers perceived to engaging with climate change among the UK public and their policy implications. Global Environmental Change, 17(3), 445–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCright, A. M., & Dunlap, R. E. (2000). Challenging global warming as a social problem: An analysis of the conservative movement’s counterclaims. Social Problems, 47(4), 499–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newell, B. R., & Pitman, A. J. (2010). The psychology of global warming: Improving the fit between the science and the message. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 91(8), 1003–1014.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norgaard, K. M. (2006a). “People want to protect themselves a little bit”: Emotions, denial, and social movement nonparticipation. Sociological Inquiry, 76(3), 372–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norgaard, K. M. (2006b). “We don’t really want to know” environmental justice and socially organized denial of global warming in Norway. Organization & Environment, 19(3), 347–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norgaard, K. M. (2011). Living in denial: Climate change, emotions and everyday life. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Norgaard, K. M. (2012). Climate denial and the construction of innocence: Reproducing transnational environmental privilege in the face of climate change. Race, Gender & Class, 19, 80–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olausson, U. (2011). “We’re the ones to blame”: Citizens’ representations of climate change and the role of the media. Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture, 5, 281–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Opotow, S., & Weiss, L. (2000). New ways of thinking about environmentalism: Denial and the process of moral exclusion in environmental conflict. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 475–490.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oreskes, N. (2010). My facts are better than your facts: Spreading good news about global warming. In P. Howlett & M. S. Morgan (Eds.), How well do facts travel? The dissemination of reliable knowledge (pp. 135–166). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oreskes, N., & Conway, E. M. (2010). Merchants of doubt: How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orr, D. W. (2002). Four challenges of sustainability. Conservation Biology, 16, 1457–1460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randall, R. (2009). Loss and climate change: The cost of parallel narratives. Ecopsychology, 3, 118–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rustin, M. (2010). Looking for the unexpected: Psychoanalytic understanding and politics. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 26(4), 472–479.

    Google Scholar 

  • Squarzoni, P. (2014). Climate changed: A personal journey through the science. New York: Abrams ComicArt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoll-Kleemann, S., O’Riordan, T., & Jaeger, C. C. (2001b). The psychology of denial concerning climate mitigation measures: Evidence from Swiss focus groups. Global Environmental Change, 11(2), 107–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swim, J. K., Stern, P. C., Doherty, T. J., Clayton, S., Reser, J. P., Weber, E. U., et al. (2011). Psychology’s contributions to understanding and addressing global climate change. American Psychologist, 66(4), 241.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Washington, H., & Cook, J. (2011). Climate change denial: Heads in the sand. Abingdon: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weintrobe, S. (2010a). Engaging with climate change means engaging with our human nature. Ecopsychology, 2(2), 119–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weintrobe, S. (Ed.). (2012). Engaging with climate change: Psychoanalytic and interdisciplinary perspectives. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Žižek, S. (2009). In defense of lost causes. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Applied Social Science, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK

    Matthew Adams

Authors
  1. Matthew Adams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2016 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Adams, M. (2016). Knowing and Not Knowing About Anthropogenic Ecological Crisis. In: Ecological Crisis, Sustainability and the Psychosocial Subject. Studies in the Psychosocial. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-35160-9_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation