Glenn Albrecht

Last updated

Glenn A. Albrecht, born in 1953, was Professor of Sustainability at Murdoch University in Western Australia until his retirement in 2014. He is an honorary fellow in the School of Geosciences of the University of Sydney.

Contents

In 2008, Albrecht finished as the Associate Professor in Environmental Studies in University of Newcastle in New South Wales. He has become known for coining the neologism solastalgia [1] and symbiocene . [2]

Biography

Glenn Albrecht is an environmental philosopher with both theoretical and applied interests in the relationship between ecosystem and human health. He has pioneered the research domain of 'psychoterratic' or earth related mental health conditions with the concept of 'solastalgia' or the lived experience of negative environmental change. He also has publications in the field of animal ethics including the ethics of relocating endangered species in the face of climate change pressures.

Glenn Albrecht's most recent publication is 'Earth Emotions: New Words for a New World', published in May 2019. [3]

He has been published in many peer reviewed journals and has recently completed and published book chapters on his research interests. With colleagues, Nick Higginbotham (University of Newcastle) and Linda Connor (Sydney University) under Australian Research Council Discovery Project grants, Glenn has researched the impact of mining in the Upper Hunter Region of NSW, Australia, and now, the impact of climate change on communities, again in the Hunter Region. Glenn has also been involved as a Chief Investigator in ARC Discovery Project research on the social and ethical aspects of the thoroughbred horse industry worldwide.

Glenn Albrecht is a pioneer of transdisciplinary thinking and, with Higginbotham and Connor produced a major book on this topic, Health Social Science: A Transdisciplinary and Complexity Perspective with Oxford University Press in 2001. His current major research interest, the positive and negative psychological, emotional and cultural relationships people have to place and its transformation is one that sees him having an international research profile. [4]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nostalgia</span> Feeling sentimentality for the past

Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word nostalgia is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of νόστος (nóstos), meaning "homecoming", a Homeric word, and ἄλγος (álgos), meaning "sorrow" or "despair", and was coined by a 17th-century medical student to describe the anxieties displayed by Swiss mercenaries fighting away from home. Described as a medical condition—a form of melancholy—in the Early Modern period, it became an important trope in Romanticism.

In environmental philosophy, environmental ethics is an established field of practical philosophy "which reconstructs the essential types of argumentation that can be made for protecting natural entities and the sustainable use of natural resources." The main competing paradigms are anthropocentrism, physiocentrism, and theocentrism. Environmental ethics exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including environmental law, environmental sociology, ecotheology, ecological economics, ecology and environmental geography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental history</span> Specialisation of history

Environmental history is the study of human interaction with the natural world over time, emphasising the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs and vice versa.

Ecopsychology is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary field that focuses on the synthesis of ecology and psychology and the promotion of sustainability. It is distinguished from conventional psychology as it focuses on studying the emotional bond between humans and the Earth. Instead of examining personal pain solely in the context of individual or family pathology, it is analyzed in its wider connection to the more than human world. A central premise is that while the mind is shaped by the modern world, its underlying structure was created in a natural non-human environment. Ecopsychology seeks to expand and remedy the emotional connection between humans and nature, treating people psychologically by bringing them spiritually closer to nature.

Debora Hammond is an American historian of science, former Provost and Professor Emerita of Interdisciplinary Studies of the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies at the Sonoma State University. She is known as author of the 2003 book The Science of Synthesis: Exploring the Social Implications of General Systems Theory, and as 2005–06 President of International Society for the Systems Sciences.

Solastalgia is a neologism, formed by the combination of the Latin words sōlācium (comfort) and the Greek root -algia, that describes a form of emotional or existential distress caused by environmental change. It is best described as the lived experience of negatively perceived environmental change. A distinction can be made between solastalgia linked to distress about what is in the process of negatively perceived change and eco-anxiety linked to what may happen in the future.

Greta Gaard is an ecofeminist writer, scholar, activist, and documentary filmmaker. Gaard's academic work in the realms of ecocriticism and ecocomposition is widely cited by scholars in the disciplines of composition and literary criticism. Her theoretical work extending ecofeminist thought into queer theory, queer ecology, vegetarianism, and animal liberation has been influential within women's studies. A cofounder of the Minnesota Green Party, Gaard documented the transition of the U.S. Green movement into the Green Party of the United States in her book, Ecological Politics. She is currently a professor of English at University of Wisconsin-River Falls and a community faculty member in Women's Studies at Metropolitan State University, Twin Cities.

<i>Enviro-Capitalists</i> Book by Terry L. Anderson and Donald R. Leal

Enviro-Capitalists: Doing Good While Doing Well is a 1997 book written by economists Terry L. Anderson and Donald R. Leal. In this book, Anderson and Leal further developed the concept of free-market environmentalism, which they first described in their 1992 book Free Market Environmentalism. The book argues that privatization of sectors like wildlife conservation, aquatic habitat development and environment-friendly housing is beneficial and environmental protection should be done by private entrepreneurs, not by the federal government. Enviro-Capitalists received the 1997 Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award.

Ecological art is an art genre and artistic practice that seeks to preserve, remediate and/or vitalize the life forms, resources and ecology of Earth. Ecological art practitioners do this by applying the principles of ecosystems to living species and their habitats throughout the lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere, including wilderness, rural, suburban and urban locations. Ecological art is a distinct genre from Environmental art in that it involves functional ecological systems-restoration, as well as socially engaged, activist, community-based interventions. Ecological art also addresses politics, culture, economics, ethics and aesthetics as they impact the conditions of ecosystems. Ecological art practitioners include artists, scientists, philosophers and activists who often collaborate on restoration, remediation and public awareness projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Crary</span> American philosopher

Alice Crary is an American philosopher who currently holds the positions of University Distinguished Professor at the Graduate Faculty, The New School for Social Research in New York City and Visiting Fellow at Regent's Park College, University of Oxford, U.K..

Vulnerability refers to "the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effects of climate change on mental health</span> Effects of climate change on mental health

The effects of climate change on mental health and well-being are documented, especially for vulnerable populations and those with pre-existing serious mental illness. There are three broad pathways by which these effects can take place: directly, indirectly or via awareness. The direct pathway includes stress related conditions being caused by exposure to extreme weather events, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Scientific studies have linked mental health outcomes to several climate-related exposures—heat, humidity, rainfall, drought, wildfires and floods. The indirect pathway can be via disruption to economic and social activities, such as when an area of farmland is less able to produce food. The third pathway can be of mere awareness of the climate change threat, even by individuals who are not otherwise affected by it.

Clare Palmer is a British philosopher, theologian and scholar of environmental and religious studies who is currently a professor in the Department of Philosophy at Texas A&M University. She has previously held academic appointments at the University of Greenwich, the University of Stirling, Lancaster University and Washington University in St. Louis, among others. Palmer is known for her work in environmental and animal ethics.

Vegan studies or vegan theory is the study of veganism, within the humanities and social sciences, as an identity and ideology, and the exploration of its depiction in literature, the arts, popular culture, and the media. In a narrower use of the term, vegan studies seeks to establish veganism as a "mode of thinking and writing" and a "means of critique".

Eco-anxiety has been defined as "a chronic fear of environmental doom". Extensive studies have been done on ecological anxiety since 2007, and various definitions remain in use. Another widely cited definition is: "the generalized sense that the ecological foundations of existence are in the process of collapse." Some scholars use the term eco-anxiety as a synonym for climate-anxiety, while others like to treat the terms separately. While much ecological disruption results from climate change, some is caused by direct human activity, such as deforestation. The condition is not a medical diagnosis and is regarded as a rational response to the reality of climate change; however, severe instances can have a mental health impact if left without alleviation. There is also evidence that eco-anxiety is caused by the way researchers frame their research and their narratives of the evidence about climate change: if they do not consider the possibility of finding any solution to overcome climate change and for individuals to make a difference, they contribute to this feeling of powerlessness.

Linda Helen Connor is an Australian anthropologist. She is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Sydney.

Ecological grief, or in particular climate grief, refers to the sense of loss that arises from experiencing or learning about environmental destruction or climate change. Environmental grief can be defined as "the grief reaction stemming from the environmental loss of ecosystems by natural and man-made events." Another definition is "the grief felt in relation to experienced or anticipated ecological losses, including the loss of species, ecosystems, and meaningful landscapes due to acute or chronic environmental change." For example, scientists witnessing the decline of Australia's Great Barrier Reef report experiences of anxiety, hopelessness, and despair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate communication</span> Environmental and science communication

Climate communication or climate change communication is a field of environmental communication and science communication focused on the causes, nature and effects of anthropogenic climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychological impact of climate change</span> Aspect of climate change and society

The psychological impacts of climate change may refer to the effects that climate change can have on individuals’ mental and emotional well-being. They may also refer to more generalised effects on groups and their behaviours, such as the urge to migrate from affected areas of the globe to areas perceived as less affected. These impacts can manifest in various ways and affect people of all ages and backgrounds. Some of the key psychological impacts of climate change include: emotional states such as eco-anxiety, ecological grief, eco-anger or solastalgia. While troublesome, such emotions may not appear immediately harmful and can lead to a rational response to the degradation of the natural world motivating adaptive action. However, there can be other effects on health, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), for instance, as a result of witnessing or seeing reports of massive wildfires, which may be more dangerous.

Climate psychology is a field that aims to further our understanding of the psychological processes that occur in response to climate change and its resultant effects. It also seeks to promote creative ways to engage with the public about climate change; contribute to change at the personal, community, cultural, and political levels; support activists, scientists and policy makers to bring about effective change; to nurture psychological resilience to the destructive impacts of climate change happening now and in the future.

References

  1. Albrecht, Glenn A. (2005). Solastalgia: a new concept in human health and identity. PAN Partners. OCLC   993784860.
  2. Albrecht, Glenn A.; Van Horn, Gavin (24 May 2016). Exiting the Anthropocene and entering the Symbiocene (Essay). Libertyville, Illinois, USA: Center for Humans & Nature. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 Albrecht, Glenn A. (2019). Earth Emotions: New Words for a New World (1 ed.). New York, USA: Cornell University Press. p. 240. ISBN   978-1-50171522-8. (IthacaLes émotions de la Terre. Des nouveau mots pour un nouveau monde. Les Liens Qui Libèrent.)
  4. Smith, Daniel B. (31 January 2010) [2010-01-27]. "Is There an Ecological Unconscious?". The New York Times Sunday Magazine . Critchlow Chair in English, College of New Rochelle, New York, USA: The New York Times Company. p. 36. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2010.