Mitigating Climate Injustice Via Ecological Conversion

Background and Purpose: Climate change has emerged as “the defining global social justice issue of our time” (Mearns & Norton, 2010, p. 7) given that the consequences disproportionately impact people and countries with low income or social status, amplifying vulnerability, while the causes lay “primarily with richer people in richer countries” (Mearns & Norton, 2010, p. 15). In this frame, mitigating CC through decreasing Americans’ consumption patterns becomes an exercise in global social justice. Unfortunately, this change has proved slow and difficult. Ecological conversion (EC) is a compelling yet understudied concept regarding multifaceted individual change in awareness, values, relationship to others, and action which leads to sustained consumption changes. This paper explores the process of EC in American Catholics who serve as climate advocates. Their narratives provide critical insights into ways to support Americans toward living more sustainably and more justly.

Methods: Ten in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with American Catholic climate advocates located throughout the continental U.S. The sample included six men and four women who ranged in age from 44 to 74 years. Nine participants were Caucasian; one was Hispanic. All participants had earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree; seven had earned doctoral degrees. All identified as Catholic and served as an ambassador through the Catholic Climate Covenant organization. Interviews were conducted using a tool developed by the researcher to elicit stories of EC. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a narrative thematic analysis.

Results: From the narrative thematic analysis, 11 themes were developed. Two themes were overarching: EC as a life-long formative process and Catholicism as integrated throughout the process. The remaining nine themes were organized into three broad narrative categories to preserve a general chronological sequence. The first narrative category, early influences, included experiences in childhood and during university time, which set each advocate on a broad professional or spiritual path as a foundation for the ongoing process of EC. The second narrative category, major influences during adulthood, included a range of powerful affective experiences, program and trainings, and people. During this active stage, advocates drew upon resources and opportunities via their professional, religious, and natural environments to welcome growth in linking spirituality, ecology, and justice. The last narrative category, sustained changes, included new insights, new actions, critical awareness of challenges, and sustenance. Over time, advocates began to think and act differently, developed a critical awareness of the challenges to environmental justice work, and sought that which sustained them to do this work.

Conclusion and Implications: Insights into the process of EC may be used to guide social work practice, policy, education, and research. To acquire and sustain new behaviors, individuals require engaging activities and relationships to create new conceptual links between environmental and social justice, and they require sustenance to carry on in spite of the challenges. Social workers can work in and with communities to generate these pivotal insights, strategically direct new actions to directly mitigate CC, and cultivate sustaining relationships.