Environmental Melancholia Psychoanalytic Dimensions Of Engagement Renee Lertzman by Renee Lertzman 9781315851853, 1315851857 instant download after payment.

In this groundbreaking book, Renee Lertzman applies psychoanalytic theory

and psychosocial research to the issue of public engagement and public apathy

in response to chronic ecological threats. By highlighting unconscious and

affective dimensions of contemporary ecological issues, Lertzman deconstructs

the idea that there is a gap between what people care about and what is actually

carried out in policy and personal practice. In doing so, she presents an

innovative way to think about and design engagement practices and policy

interventions.

Based on key qualitative fieldwork and in-depth interviews conducted in

Green Bay, Wisconsin, each chapter provides a psychosocial, psychoanalytic perspective

on subjectivity, affect and identity and considers what this means for

understanding behaviour in relation to environmental crises and climate change.

The book argues for a theory of environmental melancholia that accounts for

the ways in which people experience profound loss and disruption caused by

environmental issues and yet may have trouble expressing or making sense of

such experiences.

Environmental Melancholia offers a fresh perspective to the field of environmental

psychology that until now has been largely dominated by research in cognitive,

behavioural and social psychology. It will appeal to academics, researchers

and postgraduate students in the fields of psychoanalysis, psychosocial studies

and sustainability, as well as policy makers and educators internationally.