Ecopsychology's Home: The Interplay of Structure and Person

Abstract

Abstract From its inception, ecopsychology has found its home in the interplay of the structural and personal. This has been true whether the structures are natural systems or human institutions that mediate people's relationship with the natural world. At present, the tightening temporal vise that characterizes the environmental crisis has become a global factor under which we all operate and as such is part of the structure of the crisis. Further, capitalism has emerged as the planet's single most ecologically destructive force. In order to address both of these large-scale concerns, I propose that ecopsychology turn most of its attention to individual development within communities and other groups that are building alternatives to the dominant paradigm. To illustrate this approach, I describe existing alternatives in three major areas—law, work, and media—as well as the unique contributions ecopsychology could make to these areas. Personal issues related to large-scale structural change are also discu...