Paper short abstract:

How do understandings of ‘environmentally sustainable behaviour’ differ between cultures? We present perspectives from Brazil and South Africa regarding the relationship between sustainability, individual action and wider contexts, and discuss theoretical implications for addressing climate change.

Paper long abstract:

Responding to climate change requires significant shifts in citizens' lifestyles across the globe. Within social psychology, research has sought to identify psychological factors that might catalyse more environmentally sustainable lifestyles. Whilst psychological approaches have made valuable contributions to understanding environmentally sustainable behaviour, some have argued that it also imposes dominant Western frameworks in ways that that conceal alternative cultural understandings: for example, by conceiving of action on climate change in individualistic and consumerist terms. We propose that environmentally relevant 'behaviour' can be better understood by examining the interaction between cultural, societal and psychological processes, taking into account the language, history, practice and concepts framing behaviour.

Our paper considers two country-specific studies using this interdisciplinary approach. As a major industrialising nation, Brazil has taken a lead on sustainability initiatives, yet environmental issues such as Amazon deforestation and air and water pollution pose major concerns. Meanwhile, in South Africa, economic development and population growth has resulted in severe resource depletion, significant environmental damage and species loss.

We analyse citizens' perceptions of their environmentally-relevant actions in the context of their sociocultural environment, exploring how people understand sustainable behaviours in nuanced and situated ways. We also ask why some citizens express an active environmental commitment whilst others do not, and draw on ideas from across the social sciences in doing so. We highlight the importance of alternative subjectivities - generally overlooked within the social psychological paradigm - and the inherent tensions, conflicts and uncertainties germane to changing people's 'behaviour' in a changing world.