Ecological Citizenship: Addressing and Harnessing Eco-Anxiety
摘要
This chapter explains how to cope with eco-anxiety, both by mitigating its undesirable effects such as worry and stress and by harnessing its beneficial consequences such as risk-assessment and risk-minimization behaviours. It shows that ecological citizenship can serve as a normative framework that is relevant to navigating eco-anxiety as it provides coping strategies at the individual and collective levels. It investigates three of the main values of the ecological citizen. The first is carbon sobriety, a voluntary form of moderation applied to one’s individual carbon footprint. The second is hope, a disposition that encourages a realistic outlook on an uncertain future and that helps with avoiding the pitfalls of optimism and pessimism. The third is courage, an ability to act to protect environmental value despite the risks involved. All three values, especially when taken together, can help eco-anxious people to face our planetary predicament without giving in to eco-despair.