Medicine:Ecophobia
Ecophobia is the feeling of powerlessness to prevent cataclysmic environmental change. It is part of climate anxiety.[1] The term was coined by environmental educator in 1996 by David Sobel, who described it as "[I]nstead of developing a sense of agency … [some feel] a helpless sense of dread about the future."[2][3] A study with 10-12 year olds found 82% of the children expressed fear, sadness, and anger about environmental problems.[4][5] The neologism was used by David Sobel,[6][7][8] Simon Estok,[9] and Roger Scruton.[10][11]
Ecophobia and Covid-19
The University of Cambridge tells it readers that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought to life and exacerbated many conditions and differences between people. "Pandemics are always environmental events, the current one being a direct result of closer human/nonhuman animal contacts—itself a result of diminishing food sources and increasing populations. Given these facts, and given the fact that ecophobia is central to the environmental crises we have created, theoretical, personal, and political discussions about ecophobia and Covid-19 are very timely."[12]
Ecophobia and theater
Turkish folk theater dramatizes ecophobia by showing fear, anxiety, and threat of the natural world, with traditional plays often showing dominance of the natural world.[13]
Many eco-critics and academic writers have noticed Shakespeare's representations of ecophobia in nature in plays like Othello and King Lear, among others: "The play markets this dramatic ecophobia to an audience very familiar with grain shortages, bad harvests, cold weather, and profound storms. It was a time of unprecedented exploration, perhaps in part owing to the poor harvests and lack of local fish, and the world was getting smaller."[14] Critics also point out the ecophobia induced by monsters in Shakespeare's plays: "The plays' obsession with monsters jiggles orders, hierarchies, values, rules, and forms defining nature."[15]
See also
- Learned helplessness
- Climate crisis
- Ecocriticism
Further reading
- Sobel, David (2013). Beyond ecophobia : reclaiming the heart in nature education. Great Barrington, MA: Orion Society. ISBN 978-1-935713-04-3. OCLC 858126725.
- Estok, Simon (2018). The ecophobia hypothesis. New York London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-38493-3. OCLC 1042329729.
- Susan Jean Strife. Children's Environmental Concerns: Expressing Ecophobia. The Journal of Environmental Education. Volume 43, Issue 1, 2012.
References
- ↑ "What Do Children Know About Climate Change?" (in en-US). https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/why-the-wild-things-are/201505/what-do-children-know-about-climate-change.
- ↑ Finnegan, William. "Homeschooling during coronavirus: five ways to teach children about climate change" (in en). http://theconversation.com/homeschooling-during-coronavirus-five-ways-to-teach-children-about-climate-change-131411.
- ↑ "Ecophobia: What Is It, and Why Is It on the Rise?" (in en-US). 2017-11-01. https://www.alive.com/lifestyle/ecophobia/.
- ↑ Strife, Susan Jean (January 2012). "Children's Environmental Concerns: Expressing Ecophobia" (in en). The Journal of Environmental Education 43 (1): 37–54. doi:10.1080/00958964.2011.602131. ISSN 0095-8964.
- ↑ McKnight, Diane M (August 2010). "Overcoming "ecophobia": fostering environmental empathy through narrative in children's science literature" (in en). Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 8 (6): e10–e15. doi:10.1890/100041. ISSN 1540-9295.
- ↑ Finnegan, William. "Homeschooling during coronavirus: five ways to teach children about climate change" (in en). http://theconversation.com/homeschooling-during-coronavirus-five-ways-to-teach-children-about-climate-change-131411.
- ↑ "In the Digital Age, How to Get Students Excited About Going Outdoors" (in en-us). https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/30877/in-the-digital-age-how-to-get-students-excited-about-going-outdoors.
- ↑ Dewan, Shaila (2007-04-08). "Can Man Improve on Nature's Fishbowl? (Published 2007)" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/weekinreview/08dewan.html.
- ↑ "(Too) Little House on the (Verge of) Prairie ("Madness")" (in en-CA). https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/strifes-rich-pageant/202008/too-little-house-the-verge-prairie-madness.
- ↑ "What is oikophobia or ecophobia? What has that got to do with COVID-19 or coronavirus pandemic?" (in en). https://www.timesnownews.com/health/article/what-is-oikophobia-or-ecophobia-what-has-that-got-to-do-with-covid-19-or-coronavirus-pandemic/570065.
- ↑ "Unified Architectural Theory: Chapter 5" (in en-US). 2014-06-08. https://www.archdaily.com/512714/unified-architectural-theory-chapter-5.
- ↑ Estok, Simon C. (2021). "Ecophobia and Covid-19". International Journal of Fear Studies 3 (2): 90–99. https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/114017.
- ↑ Akıllı, Sinan (2021). Turkish Ecocriticism: From Neolithic to Contemporary Timescapes. NY: Lexington Books.
- ↑ Estok, Simon (2011). Literatures, Cultures, and the Environment : Dramatizing Environmental Fear: King Lear's Unpredictable Natural Spaces and Domestic Places. NY: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-11874-4.
- ↑ Estok, S.C. (2011). Monstrosity in Othello and Pericles: Race, Gender, and Ecophobia In: Ecocriticism and Shakespeare. Literatures, Cultures, and the Environment. Palgrave Macmillan, New York..
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