Eco-fascism is part of climate anxiety
+book giveaway winners announced!
Hey there!
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Book giveaway winners
Thank you so much to those of you who wrote in to my book giveaway with a story about a person who you think could get something out of reading Generation Dread! The stories I read were moving, relatable, and poignant, and all left me wishing I had a free copy to give each person. The winners are named Jack, Melanie and Jen (I will reach out to you to get the addresses of where each book should be sent) <3
My Generation Dread book tour continues, with more May and June dates coming up. There are several virtual options on the poster below that can be joined from anywhere - hope to see you out at one of these!! (Click the PDF called ‘Poster May June’ for registration links).
Have you read Generation Dread?
If you’ve read the book already, what do you think of it? If you didn’t like it, tell me why. If you enjoyed it, would you be willing to leave a favourable review of it on Goodreads or Amazon? If so, that would make a world of difference to the book’s success (reviews help enormously to put the book in front of people long after the couple of weeks of buzz die down after its publication date). Thank you so much for considering leaving a review!
I’ll return to regular programming here at Gen Dread once the book tour slows down a bit and I can return to my normal work cadence. In the meantime, I wanted to share something on my mind and then some community announcements:
Eco-fascism is part of climate anxiety
Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash
The horrendous events that unfolded over the weekend in Buffalo, New York, that left 10 people dead and 3 wounded, most of whom were Black, is now another story to add to the annals of eco-fascist mass killings. The killer’s actions were connected with the “great replacement theory”, a conspiracy that espouses elites are somehow strategically planning for white people to become minimized in any population as demographic shifts make up a new majority of people of colour (shifts that are happening naturally). None of this is separate from the climate crisis, which causes mass migration in scales never before seen, as hundreds of millions to well over one billion people are predicted to be on the move in search of a better life by 2050, most of whom will be people of colour. Climate anxiety can make anyone feel unsafe, and while many of its co-occurring emotions are rooted in compassion for others, clearly, not all of them are. Some hateful white people who are increasingly feeling unsafe in a changing world will harness their climate anxiety (about being replaced, about having their ways of life infringed upon by climate migrants) for violence. We need to make this connection clear. Climate anxiety is a potent force, and it isn’t all about wanting the world to be “a better place”. Or it is, actually, it just shakes down incredibly differently based on what you think that “better place” looks like. None of this bodes well for how the far right will deal with the geopolitical strain caused by a warming world. Simple answers for complex problems do not serve anyone well.
Special events
Join us on June 5, 4pm PT / 7pm ET for a conversation with Dr. Katharine Wilkinson of the All We Can Save Project (my collaborator on our resources for working with climate emotions). We’ll be talking about navigating the fine line of despair, hope, and purpose in the climate crisis and my new book, Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an age of Climate Crisis.
You can still meet the legend, Joanna Macy!
In a recent post I shared an upcoming event with the revered Buddhist eco-activist and Earth Elder, Joanna Macy. It has been rescheduled for May 31st due to COVID complications. Joanna will be giving a rare public council on Zoom. She is 93 years old and incredibly sharp! In the council, Joanna will hold space for our grief and care, rekindling our connection with the earth and with our calling to serve at this time. I'm writing to invite you to join this council (or to listen to the recording).
Register Here: bit.ly/climatewithjoanna
Attention all Gen (D)readers in Bristol, UK
I’d like to draw attention to an incredible creative project by a group of talented women in the UK who are co-creating a play about the intersection of eco-distress and mothering. Check it out, all details below.
+ related to this question of parenting in the climate crisis, here are some recent media hits I recently weighed in on in case you want to dive in further:
One of my favourite podcasts, Death, Sex and Money had me on the show to talk about the decision to mother in the climate crisis, and in it I share my aha moment for when I finally understood my eco-anxiety and how it was affecting me
The Brian Lehrer show had me on to talk about reproductive anxiety in the climate crisis. The phone lit up with callers from across the US sharing stories about how the climate crisis is impacting their mental health. This is real. It demands support. The feelings can be overwhelming. They can also help us take action. Lots of complexity to explore.
Should you have kids in the midst of the climate crisis? In Chatelaine
Childfree people are often unfairly called selfish, and the term is now being directed at those choosing to procreate amid climate change, on KCUR.
It’s ok to be sad about climate! We’re aiming to hold that emotion within our “window of tolerance”, right? So great to talk climate emotions and “feeling doomed” but then getting beyond it, on Gimlet’s How to Save a Planet podcast
How to turn your eco-anxiety into a tool, not a ‘dead' end’, on CBC What on Earth
What the heck is internal activism? On Important Not Important
+ The Social, a Canadian daytime television show, kind of like The View, brought up this topic in my segment with them. They were respectful. This was nothing like a scene from Don’t Look Up. I was grateful!
That’s all for this edition
As always, you can reach me - and each other - by commenting on this article below. You can also reach me by hitting reply to this email or following me on Twitter and Instagram.
<3 Britt
Thanks so much for the work you are doing, Britt. I’ve just finished the “Baby Doomers” chapter in Generation Dread. You have synthesized so much material. It has all been so affirming and useful, connecting with my recent exploration of Internal Family Systems, and the work I have been doing with my family and want to expand on: creating safe space to talk about our situation. I’ll write a review soon.
I also wanted to let you (and everyone!) know about Bruce Cockburn’s, “Four New Songs,” which connect so brilliantly and beautifully with the themes of emotions/climate/love/fascism, and especially “binocular vision,” holding the truth and being okay with it. His song, “On a Roll,” does that so remarkably. Interestingly, he’s living in San Francisco, too. I wonder if there’s a collaboration possible there!!?? Anyway, thanks again.