Book project: Psychology in crisis

Psychologists 4 Future and the working group Critical Environmental Psychology of the (german) association "Initiative Psychologie im Umweltschutz (IPU)" want to publish a book. The book will be published by Psychosozial-Verlag. In the book, we would like to bring together diverse voices that have not yet been heard in the scientific-psychological discourse. Diversity refers to the backgrounds of the authors as well as to their positions and approaches.
The contributions center on the guiding question: "Critical Environmental Psychology: What can (environmental) psychology contribute to the "great transformation" towards a more just world and a good life for all? In addition to critical perspectives on the status quo, theoretical and practical alternatives will also be made visible in research approaches.

We want to bring together critical, marginalized, and practical perspectives from both the Global North and the Global South in this volume. This means that submissions from practitioners, individuals from the Global South, as well as BiPoC and other marginalized groups are explicitly encouraged and will be given preference if their contributions are of comparable quality. Additionally, we aim to achieve a balanced gender representation among the authors.

Fortunately, there has been a great response to our call, and we can currently state that we have achieved our above-mentioned goals. The current working titles for subchapters are as follows:

Chapter 1: Science and Scientists in Crisis: Fundamental Considerations for a Critical Environmental Psychology

Chapter 2: Diversity and Power: Decolonial and Intercultural Perspectives

Chapter 3: Critically Examining Psychology and Society

Chapter 4: From Theory to Practice: Emancipatory Projects

This volume is intended for an interested audience from the fields of social, human, and environmental sciences, as well as for politically and psychologically interested individuals from civil society and activists. The book has a fundamental scholarly aim but is more flexible than academic journals in terms of topic selection, contribution formats, and formalities. Both theoretical and empirical as well as practical contributions will be included. The texts will be published in German, and the targeted publication date is September 2024.

Your support makes critical perspectives more visible, that are often invisible in the general psychological discourse on the climate crisis. You endorse the emerging critical psychology and, as a result, a first anthology with a focus on environmental psychology. You are participating in pioneering work for a comprehensive socio-ecological transformation.

We need your support to provide solidary financial support to authors. Our primary goal is to mitigate financial inequalities and offer financial assistance to authors with limited economic resources. This is intended to create a space for previously marginalized knowledge to contribute to the societal and scientific discourse. This is a fundamental step in challenging Western discursive hegemony, with the ultimate aim of engaging in a more pluralistic and equitable exchange. All authors in more privileged positions and the editorial team are working on a voluntary basis. We also intend to use a portion of the funds to finance translation work that we cannot undertake ourselves.