Leading the Public into Emergency Mode: A New Strategy for the Climate Movement

| May 11, 2016 | Leave a Comment

By downplaying the situation to avoid panic, are we missing the benefits that come with 'emergency mode'?

Item Link: Access the Resource

Date of Publication: May 10, 2016

Year of Publication: 2016

Publication City: Santa Rosa

Publisher: Post Carbon Institute

Author(s): Margaret Klein Salamon

Clinical psychologist Margaret Klein Salamon shares an excerpt from her new report Leading the Public into Emergency Mode: A New Strategy for the Climate Movement, with the Post Carbon Institute’s Resilience.org. You can access the full report as an illustrated PDF, or a text-only version on Salamon’s website TheClimatePsychologist.com.

Most psychological and sociological writing about the climate crisis has warned climate “communicators” of the risks of triggering primitive and pathological responses to crisis: “fight or flight”, panic, and the devastation caused by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Because of these bleak portrayals, many political and organizational leaders have dared not convey the horrifying truth of the climate crisis, since they operate under the mistaken belief that the only response to emergencies is panicked chaos!

 

But aside from panic, individuals and groups can also respond to emergencies with reason, focus, dedication, and shocking success. Emergency mode is the mode of human psychological functioning that occurs when individuals or groups respond optimally to existential or moral emergencies. This mode of human functioning, markedly different from “normal” functioning— is characterized by an extreme focus of attention and resources on working productively to solve the emergency.

Read more on Resilience.org.

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