Walking journeys into everyday climatic-affective atmospheres: The emotional labour of balancing grief and hope

The postapocalypse as a mobilising discourse for climate action operates largely out of anger over experienced and anticipated injustices as well as paradoxical hope that fuses loss and grief with freed-up solidarities in support of liveable futures. However, negotiating this emotional tension can b...

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Main Authors: Tschakert, Petra, Bourgault du Coudray, C., Horwitz, P.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2023
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180103700
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/94738
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author Tschakert, Petra
Bourgault du Coudray, C.
Horwitz, P.
author_facet Tschakert, Petra
Bourgault du Coudray, C.
Horwitz, P.
author_sort Tschakert, Petra
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The postapocalypse as a mobilising discourse for climate action operates largely out of anger over experienced and anticipated injustices as well as paradoxical hope that fuses loss and grief with freed-up solidarities in support of liveable futures. However, negotiating this emotional tension can be both draining and isolating. Here, we examine how white settler populations in Western Australia balance grief and hope in places they hold dear and the role emotions such as sadness, worry, disappointment, joy, and pride play in relational place making. Through an innovative in situ and mobile methodology we call Walking Journeys, we trace how participants navigate their climatic-affective atmospheres and make sense of their agency in changing ‘Places of the Heart’. We find evidence for emotional complexities of solastalgia where pessimistic outlooks for the future are wrapped up in prefigurative visions of a better world. By holding the tension between paralysis and restoration, urban and rural residents explore affective co-existence and differential belonging in their homes and the landscapes around them. We highlight the challenge of enfranchising emotions beyond individuals and conclude by endorsing entangled, reflexive, and (re-)generative responsibilities for hopeful postapocalyptic journeying.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-947382024-05-01T02:03:47Z Walking journeys into everyday climatic-affective atmospheres: The emotional labour of balancing grief and hope Tschakert, Petra Bourgault du Coudray, C. Horwitz, P. The postapocalypse as a mobilising discourse for climate action operates largely out of anger over experienced and anticipated injustices as well as paradoxical hope that fuses loss and grief with freed-up solidarities in support of liveable futures. However, negotiating this emotional tension can be both draining and isolating. Here, we examine how white settler populations in Western Australia balance grief and hope in places they hold dear and the role emotions such as sadness, worry, disappointment, joy, and pride play in relational place making. Through an innovative in situ and mobile methodology we call Walking Journeys, we trace how participants navigate their climatic-affective atmospheres and make sense of their agency in changing ‘Places of the Heart’. We find evidence for emotional complexities of solastalgia where pessimistic outlooks for the future are wrapped up in prefigurative visions of a better world. By holding the tension between paralysis and restoration, urban and rural residents explore affective co-existence and differential belonging in their homes and the landscapes around them. We highlight the challenge of enfranchising emotions beyond individuals and conclude by endorsing entangled, reflexive, and (re-)generative responsibilities for hopeful postapocalyptic journeying. 2023 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/94738 10.1177/25148486231173202 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180103700 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ fulltext
spellingShingle Tschakert, Petra
Bourgault du Coudray, C.
Horwitz, P.
Walking journeys into everyday climatic-affective atmospheres: The emotional labour of balancing grief and hope
title Walking journeys into everyday climatic-affective atmospheres: The emotional labour of balancing grief and hope
title_full Walking journeys into everyday climatic-affective atmospheres: The emotional labour of balancing grief and hope
title_fullStr Walking journeys into everyday climatic-affective atmospheres: The emotional labour of balancing grief and hope
title_full_unstemmed Walking journeys into everyday climatic-affective atmospheres: The emotional labour of balancing grief and hope
title_short Walking journeys into everyday climatic-affective atmospheres: The emotional labour of balancing grief and hope
title_sort walking journeys into everyday climatic-affective atmospheres: the emotional labour of balancing grief and hope
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180103700
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/94738