ABSTRACT
A growing chorus of voices has suggested that the world’s religions may become critical actors as the climate crisis unfolds, particularly in light of international paralysis on the issue. In recent years, many faiths have begun to address climate change and its consequences for human societies, especially the world’s poor. This is the first volume to use social science to examine how religions are helping to address one of the most significant and far-reaching challenges of our time.
While there is a growing literature in theology and ethics about climate change and religion, little research has been previously published about the ways in which religious institutions, groups and individuals are responding to the problem of climate change. Seventeen research-driven chapters are written by sociologists, anthropologists, geographers and other social scientists. This book explores what effects religions are having, what barriers they are running into or creating, and what this means for the global struggle to address climate change.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |19 pages
Introduction
part I|133 pages
The Global South
chapter 2|14 pages
A retreating Goddess?
chapter 3|10 pages
Religion, indigenous knowledge and climate change in a mountain region
chapter 4|15 pages
Climate change projects in the land of gross national happiness
chapter 5|13 pages
Pursuing diplomacy overseas, fostering adaptation at home
chapter 6|19 pages
From theology to a praxis of “eco-jihad”
chapter 10|15 pages
Climate change and indigenous African religion
part II|103 pages
The Global North
chapter 11|17 pages
Stepping up to the plate
chapter 13|16 pages
“How many Presbyterians does it take to change a light bulb?”
chapter 14|20 pages
Keep Christianity brown!
chapter 15|15 pages
Christian and Muslim climate activists fasting and praying for the planet
chapter 16|14 pages
“Healing the Land” in the Canadian Arctic
part III|35 pages
The transnational context
part |21 pages
Conclusion