1st Edition

Religion and Sustainability Social Movements and the Politics of the Environment

By Lucas F. Johnston Copyright 2013
    288 Pages
    by Routledge

    284 Pages
    by Routledge

    Sustainability is now key to international and national policy, manufacture and consumption. It is also central to many individuals who try to lead environmentally ethical lives. Historically, religion has been a significant part of many visions of sustainability. Pragmatically, the inclusion of religious values in conservation and development efforts has facilitated relationships between people with different value structures. Despite this, little attention has been paid to the interdependence of sustainability and religion, and no significant comparisons of religious and secular sustainability advocacy. Religion and Sustainability presents the first broad analysis of the spiritual dimensions of sustainability-oriented social movements. Exploring the similarities and differences between the conceptions of sustainability held by religious, interfaith and secular organizations, the book analyses how religious practice and discourse have impacted on political ideology and process.

    Part I: Defining Religion and Sustainability, and Why it Matters 1. The Stakes of Sustainability and its Religious Dimensions 2. Defining the Terms: Religion and Sustainability 3. Sustainability as a contagious meme Part II: The Emergence and Development of Sustainability 4. The Genesis and Globalization of Sustainability 5. The Religious Dimensions of Sustainability at the Nexus of Civil Society and International Politics 6. The Contribution of Natural Sciences and Social Sciences to the Religious Dimensions of Sustainability Part III: The Ethnographic Data and Sustainability Cases 7. Walking Together Separately: Evangelical Creation Care 8. Stories of Partnership: Interfaith Efforts Toward Sustainability 9. The Religious Dimensions of Secular Sustainability 10. Manufacturing or Cultivating Common Ground

    Biography

    Lucas F. Johnston is Assistant Professor of Religion and Environmental Studies at Wake Forest University, North Carolina, USA.