About the project
Although belief systems provide stable points of reference that help people to make sense of the world, it is also important for individual and collective beliefs systems to be flexible, especially as new information about changes in the external environment become available.
This project will study how beliefs influence responses to climate change, and investigate whether more flexible beliefs lead to more proactive responses to climate change. Case studies in South Africa will focus on the relationship between beliefs and responses to extreme weather events.
Objectives
The primary objective of this project is explore the relationship between belief systems and climate change adaptation, assessing the hypothesis that flexible belief systems contribute to an increased capacity to adapt to climate change.
The research will be carried out as both theoretical and empirical research that addresses four questions:
- What is the ontology of belief systems and how are the single beliefs organized?
- What are the mechanisms that keep belief systems from undergoing changes?
- How does change in belief systems take Place?
- Do more flexible belief systems contribute to greater adaptive capacity?
Events
- Belief system flexibility in relation to climate change adaptation in rural South Africa, Lecture by Dr Ananka Loubser.
Time and place: Sep.18, 2015 Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute, University of Witwatersrand
Dr Ananka Loubser gives a talk at the Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa - Exploring the relationship between belief systems and climate change adaptation. Time and place: Aug.13, 2015, https://www.wits.ac.za/socialsciences/
Seminar at the Dept of Philosophy, Univ. of Witwatersrang
