Modern (Western) civilization has always assumed that there are no problems for which solutions cannot be found. Today there is no shortage of technical solutions on offer for the climate crisis, from carbon capture and storage under the North Sea through to giant high altitude aerosols which deflect the sun’s rays back into outer space. These kind of solutions require what Iain McGilchrist terms a left hemisphere worldview.
This kind of instrumental rationality dominates our world, from how we educate our kids through to how we relate to the world around us (non-human nature). It also deeply affects how we think about ourselves. The triumph of modern psychology is in no small part a result of the way in which it uncritically inhabits this rationality. As a consequence alternatives, including psychoanalysis, ecopsychology and indigenous psychologies, have remained marginalised.
We invite contributions which critically reflect upon this rationality and its possible impact on climate psychology itself. We would value personal accounts of the grip of this rationality (as it can be so difficult to identify) and personal experiences of trying to challenge, subvert or transform it. Accounts of initiatives that deploy a different approach and contribute to new ways of collectively engaging with the climate crisis are especially welcome.
If you have an idea about something you’d like to contribute please contact the editors of Issue 6, Rembrandt Zegers (