Anti-racism and the Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 470
Special Issue Editors
Interests: Dr. Bikos’ research interests fall at the intersections of vocational, global, and sustainable psychology. Dr. Bikos is particularly interested in understanding how individuals respond to change—plotting longitudinal growth trajectories examining the simultaneous effects of individual and contextual factors. Significant research projects have explored global learning outcomes in returnees from education abroad, the first year adaptation of expatriate spouses, and career development in response to an online career development intervention. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she is investigating the experiences of an attitudes toward making (sewing) and wearing cloth facemasks.
Interests: Within her doctoral research team, LeAnne is investigating outcomes related to a calling-infused, online, career planning intervention. Additionally, she is analyzing student responses to initial efforts at decolonizing a graduate statistics course. LeAnne’s individual research interests are within public education in the United States. Specifically, she is exploring the inequities of education for Black students to see if the relative proportions of Black teachers affect the behavioral/disciplinary outcomes in the school.
Interests: Within her doctoral research team, Linda is investigating mask-making (sewing cloth facemasks) in light of the “Work as Calling Theory”. Additionally, she is analyzing student responses to initial efforts at decolonizing a graduate statistics course. Linda’s individual research interests are in topics related to decent work, job crafting, and industrial/organizational psychology.
Interests: Within her doctoral research team, Kate is engaged in the program evaluation of a school-age “consent” intervention to prevent sexual assault/harassment. Kate’s individual research interests are in topics related to clinical outcomes, trauma, and consent/bullying.
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The complex and interacting phenomena of the COVID-19 pandemic, political polarization, and the killings of Black individuals by police have paved the way for a racial reckoning, such that the American Psychological Association termed it a “racism pandemic” (“We Are Living in a Racism Pandemic,” Says APA President, 2020). While this constellation of factors highlighted racism in the US, anti-Blackness and systematic racism are worldwide phenomena. This is recognized within the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG; Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2015) which include achieving inclusiveness, equality, safety, wellbeing, and empowerment across dimensions such as health, environment, education, and work. The harmful effects of racism to the mental, economic, social, and physical health of its targets are well documented (for a summary see French et al., 2020). The purpose of this Special Issue is to contribute to the literature that seeks to eradicate anti-Blackness, systematic racism, hate, and oppression, and instead propagate Black liberation, equity, justice, and radical healing in ways that are neither fleeting nor transient. That is, we seek to grow a literature that explores and promotes anti-racism in ways that are sustainable.
The psychology of sustainability and sustainable development (PSSD; Di Fabio, 2017a, 2017b; Di Fabio and Rosen, 2018) may be an appropriate lens from which to advance anti-racism and radical healing in that it (a) focuses on well-being; (b) at levels of interaction including those of individuals, groups, organizations, and systems; and (c) is concerned with processes that are robust, consistent, and enduring. In contrast to traditional approaches that focus on avoidance (exploitation, depletion, irreversible alteration), the PSSD approach focuses on promotion (enrichment, growth, and flexible change).
Given the relative recency of the PSSD and the urgency of anti-racism, in this Special Issue we will curate articles that examine the reciprocity between anti-racism and PSSD. For example:
- How can we articulate, interpret, apply, and/or extend the PSSD model such that it is explicitly anti-racist? Furthermore, how do we ensure that the PSSD does not cause harm and does not promote White Supremacy culture?
- How can the PSSD contribute to anti-racist theories, resources, and interventions such that they are enduring, consistent, and stable?
- Research reports/evaluations of sustainability projects that are explicitly anti-racist.
- Research reports/evaluations of anti-racist or radical healing (or related) interventions that can be evaluated through the lens of the PSSD or whose sustainable dimensions can be identified and described.
We welcome a variety of article types including original research, brief reports, and reviews. Please limit submissions to 7000 words.
References:
Di Fabio, A. (2017a). The psychology of sustainability and sustainable development for well-being in organizations. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01534
Di Fabio, A. (2017b). Positive healthy organizations: Promoting well-being, meaningfulness, and sustainability in organizations. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01938
Di Fabio, A., & Rosen, M. A. (2018). Opening the Black Box of Psychological Processes in the Science of Sustainable Development: A New Frontier. European Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 2(4), 47. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.20897/ejosdr/3933
French, B. H., Lewis, J. A., Mosley, D. V., Adames, H. Y., Chavez-Dueñas, N. Y., Chen, G. A., & Neville, H. A. (2020). Toward a psychological framework of radical healing in communities of color. The Counseling Psychologist, 48(1), 14–46. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1177/0011000019843506
Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. (2015). Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
“We are living in a racism pandemic,” says APA President. (2020, May 29). Https://Www.Apa.Org. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2020/05/racism-pandemic
Dr. Lynette Bikos
Guest Editor
Ms. LeAnne Zaire
Ms. Linda Montaño
Ms. Kate Degenhardt
Assistant Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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