The climate emergency requires us all to make substantial changes in our lives – and sometimes they are easy but sometimes they are hard. A lot of this is to do with aspects of our culture influencing how and why we do things. We each belong to several cultures at different levels – our friends, our family culture, our workplace, where we live, the way we are supported and constrained by our finances and the state. The result is that often well-meaning policy changes fail spectacularly while other efforts can succeed dramatically. It’s complicated! So I am looking forward to hearing directly from an expert, Janet Stephenson, having read (large parts of) her book ‘Culture and Sustainability’. On June 20th she is coming to Cambridge and has agreed to give a talk and answer questions.
Culture is how we think, what we do, what we have
Stephenson’s book describes a framework for analysing culture, initially developed for studying sustainability issues in energy and transport in New Zealand, and later used in many parts of the world. At its simplest, the framework describes culture as an assembly of how we think, what we do (or want to do) and what we have or make. It is flexible and powerful.
Several chapters of the book are full of examples and stories. For example, does having a car give you independence and safety? Or does not having a car save money and give you freedom? These are different views from young people in New Zealand. Having the right transport infrastructure is necessary to support the latter view – but not sufficient.
Cooking methods embedded in culture.
Another story I particularly liked was about attempts to persuade families in Zambia to switch from charcoal stoves to cleaner, more efficient stoves. Charcoal stoves are smoky and cause chronic respiratory illnesses however the newer healthier stoves were not popular for several reasons including:
- The regular trip to buy charcoal was an opportunity for gossip with neighbours
- The new stoves made the food taste different – lacking that smoky flavour regarded as part of the local food tradition.
This got me thinking my own life. When I was 17 years old I was diagnosed with celiac disease which means I get ill if I eat food made from wheat and various other cereals. Most of my family accepted this without (much) complaint. It was inconvenient but they could see what a difference it made to my health. However my grandmother struggled because so many of the dishes that she used to make for us, from her family and religious culture were now off the menu for me. I had to refuse her apple tart, the chicken soup with dumplings, and worst of all I refused to eat matzos, which is a core part of the Passover ceremony. As my grandmother she had adopted the role of teaching me about my culture and family heritage, and my rejections were deeply hurtful.
Electric vehicles - fast and efficient
Today I read a CleanTechnica story headlined ‘Electric vehicles are Gay!’ . This statement is obviously profoundly wrong in many ways, and the article is about an oil rigger-come-biker who has fun racing his EV against motorbikes – and winning. It reminded me of my changing attitude to fast cars over the years. When I was a teenager it was fun to ride in a sports car, feeling the G-forces and hearing the engine race as my boyfriend put it through his paces. These days, I am irritated by noisy boy-racers and my friends are more likely to compete over fuel-efficient driving skills than speed. Have I grown up or is it a change in culture – a bit of both, I think.
Join us on June 20th
A lot of Stephenson’s stories are from New Zealand, where she is based and I am sure we have much in common with people there. I am looking forward to drawing more insights from her stories and, hopefully, skills in understanding our own cultures and, where necessary, how to adjust them. Do please join us on June 20th.
No comments:
Post a Comment