8 Summary of Week 3

This week, you took a psycho-social perspective on denial in its many manifestations. This meant looking beyond individual defence mechanisms that work through splitting off to recognise the many pressures there are on us to not think realistically about the climate and ecological crisis. These range from social pressures to organised climate denial. Also discussed was the way that corporate interests use tactics of individual responsibilisation, greenwashing, and the idealisation of the power of technology to solve all problems. The week ended with the idea of the hyperobject, to help appreciate just how psychologically elusive the idea of climate and ecological crisis really is.

In the face of all these pressures, and what can feel like unrelenting bad news, next week will focus on how we can manage to live with the climate and ecological crisis and what psycho-social resources can help the realistic distress that people feel.

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