How can psychological theorizing be(come) ecological? Round Table abstract

Psychology is nowadays challenged by the growing awareness that most life on planet Earth - including non-western and non-human beings - has widely been neglected by psychological theorizing, leading to knowledge that is little helpful for grappling with today’s environmental crises. In other words, current hegemonic psychological theory is insufficiently ecological. We propose to bring this issue to the theoretical arena, starting from a roundtable that will discuss challenges and potential avenues to overcome the limits of current theory and its relevance for practice, for instance in the translation of ecological concerns into sustainable daily actions (and vice versa). The presenters will engage into an interactive discussion with the audience in response to a concrete empirical problem introduced at the beginning of the session, and in ongoing response to the audience’s conceptual questions and propositions. We invite discussing themes such as: To what extent are ecological concerns an integrated part of everyday life, whose everyday life, and where on the planet? How do current concepts used in psychology stand in tension with other concerns and priorities, and how do positively connoted concepts such as ‘care’, ‘love’, ‘resonance’, ‘climate/environmental/social justice’, ‘sustainable practice’ and more assist in
making sense of these tensions? How do different ways of understanding and working with the ecological in everyday life transform practices and subjectivities differently in varying societal contexts? And is the role of the academic researcher to jointly develop in these transformations, or shall we foremost learn and innovate our theories and concepts?