Grappling with the Climate Crisis in IR: Existentially, Psychologically, Interdisciplinarily

The introduction to this special issue argues that International Relations (IR) needs to give greater consideration to the existential and psychological implications of the accelerating climate crisis. Starting from debates about the disciplinary suitability of IR to meaningfully tackle an issue as...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: NINA C. KRICKEL-CHOI
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institute of International Relations Prague 2025-05-01
Series:Czech Journal of International Relations
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cjir.iir.cz/index.php/cjir/article/view/1860/1649
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850184409583452160
author NINA C. KRICKEL-CHOI
author_facet NINA C. KRICKEL-CHOI
author_sort NINA C. KRICKEL-CHOI
collection DOAJ
description The introduction to this special issue argues that International Relations (IR) needs to give greater consideration to the existential and psychological implications of the accelerating climate crisis. Starting from debates about the disciplinary suitability of IR to meaningfully tackle an issue as all-encompassing as climate change, this introduction gives a short overview of how the problem of climate change has conventionally been conceived, and finds that IR has so far not sufficiently appreciated the psychological implications of the climate crisis. Yet, such a perspective is sorely needed, as climate change is not only an environmental problem but also a problem of existentialist sense-making, and because IR’s actors are themselves deeply affected by changes to the physical world that they are a part of. Consequently, this introduction provides a sketch of what an existential-psychological inquiry into the implications of climate change could look like and concludes that, regardless of the current state of the discipline, IR has a duty to become a discipline that can meaningfully contribute towards mitigating the climate crisis.
format Article
id doaj-art-577f11a3c8424a7083195ab9bc24b94b
institution OA Journals
issn 0323-1844
2570-9429
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Institute of International Relations Prague
record_format Article
series Czech Journal of International Relations
spelling doaj-art-577f11a3c8424a7083195ab9bc24b94b2025-08-20T02:17:04ZengInstitute of International Relations PragueCzech Journal of International Relations0323-18442570-94292025-05-01601731https://doi.org/10.32422/cjir.1860Grappling with the Climate Crisis in IR: Existentially, Psychologically, InterdisciplinarilyNINA C. KRICKEL-CHOI0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5378-9744Lund University, SwedenThe introduction to this special issue argues that International Relations (IR) needs to give greater consideration to the existential and psychological implications of the accelerating climate crisis. Starting from debates about the disciplinary suitability of IR to meaningfully tackle an issue as all-encompassing as climate change, this introduction gives a short overview of how the problem of climate change has conventionally been conceived, and finds that IR has so far not sufficiently appreciated the psychological implications of the climate crisis. Yet, such a perspective is sorely needed, as climate change is not only an environmental problem but also a problem of existentialist sense-making, and because IR’s actors are themselves deeply affected by changes to the physical world that they are a part of. Consequently, this introduction provides a sketch of what an existential-psychological inquiry into the implications of climate change could look like and concludes that, regardless of the current state of the discipline, IR has a duty to become a discipline that can meaningfully contribute towards mitigating the climate crisis.https://cjir.iir.cz/index.php/cjir/article/view/1860/1649climate changeexistentialisminterdisciplinarityirpsychology
spellingShingle NINA C. KRICKEL-CHOI
Grappling with the Climate Crisis in IR: Existentially, Psychologically, Interdisciplinarily
Czech Journal of International Relations
climate change
existentialism
interdisciplinarity
ir
psychology
title Grappling with the Climate Crisis in IR: Existentially, Psychologically, Interdisciplinarily
title_full Grappling with the Climate Crisis in IR: Existentially, Psychologically, Interdisciplinarily
title_fullStr Grappling with the Climate Crisis in IR: Existentially, Psychologically, Interdisciplinarily
title_full_unstemmed Grappling with the Climate Crisis in IR: Existentially, Psychologically, Interdisciplinarily
title_short Grappling with the Climate Crisis in IR: Existentially, Psychologically, Interdisciplinarily
title_sort grappling with the climate crisis in ir existentially psychologically interdisciplinarily
topic climate change
existentialism
interdisciplinarity
ir
psychology
url https://cjir.iir.cz/index.php/cjir/article/view/1860/1649
work_keys_str_mv AT ninackrickelchoi grapplingwiththeclimatecrisisinirexistentiallypsychologicallyinterdisciplinarily