ABSTRACT
In the introduction, the authors discuss how religious communities have approached climate change and its many impacts. We consider different methodological approaches, including political science and international relations (e.g., public opinion polls and constructivism); religious studies scholarship on climate change, including an overview of religion and ecology as a subdiscipline in religious studies; and environmental humanities approaches. In this volume, we acknowledge that religions are diverse and complex, and that accordingly, within single traditions different religious communities and institutions have tended to have diverse responses to climate change. On the one hand, some institutions and ideologies are indifferent or passive about climate change, or even advocate for environmental destruction in the favor of humans. On the other hand, some institutions and ideologies clearly advocate for environmental protection and care. This book hopes to complicate and unravel the complexities of these issues by drawing on multidisciplinary approaches from anthropology, political science, Indigenous Studies, international relations, and religious studies.
