Identity and the Natural Environment: The Psychological Significance of Nature

This volume examines the ways in which our sense of who we are affects our relationship with nature, and visa versa. It brings together cutting-edge work on the topic of identity and the environment, sampling the variety and energy of this emerging field but also placing it within a descriptive framework. These theory-based, empirical studies locate environmental identity on a continuum of social influence, and the book is divided into three sections reflecting minimal, moderate or strong social influence. Throughout, the contributors focus on the interplay between social and environmental forces; as one local acitivist says, we don’t know if we’re organizing communities to plant trees, or planting trees to organize communities .