Whenever I observe young school children participating in climate activism, I think of learning theorist and psychologist Abraham Maslow. How could people so young, who have such limited life experience, be so driven, so motivated to achieve their potential? How could they be so “self-actualized?”
Witness:
Tens of thousands of children, teenagers and young adults marched in the streets of Glasgow on Friday, the fifth day of COP26, the U.N. climate conference. Carrying banners and chanting slogans, they sent a message to delegates inside the city’s conference center about what’s at stake in these complex, technical and fraught negotiations between 196 countries: their lives.
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The situation has inspired millions of them to protest in recent years, and particularly since 2018, when the school strikes started by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, now 18, began to spread across the globe. Thousands of young activists began organizing their own strikes under the umbrella Fridays for Future, including Disha Ravi in India and Xiye Bastida in the U.S. time.com/...
The theory of self-actualization grew out of humanistic psychology and sought to prove that humans were driven by the need to live up to their potential, to epitomize in their actions and beliefs the fullness of their talents.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
Maslow’s work suggested that individuals moved through a series of needs, typically in sequence, although he later postulated it was possible to jump between needs on the spectrum.
The hierarchy was:
- Physiological needs: These include needs that keep us alive, such as food, water, shelter, warmth, and sleep.
- Safety needs: The need to feel secure, stable, and unafraid.
- Love and belongingness needs: The need to belong socially by developing relationships with friends and family.
- Esteem needs: The need to feel both (a) self-esteem based on one’s achievements and abilities and (b) recognition and respect from others.
- Self-actualization needs: The need to pursue and fulfill one’s unique potentials.
While Maslow originally had individuals moving in a linear manner from the 1st need through the 5th, he came to believe that certain individuals could pass between needs without each one being fully met. It was also possible for a person to be working in all five areas at the same time.
Being young in today’s world is to live in a world where your core needs for food, shelter, and safety are threatened at a foreseeable time in the future. And so youth find belongingness and self-esteem in climate activism. In doing so, they are addressing the threat to their first and second core needs. But perhaps more than that, they are subconsciously and instinctually motivated to act because the future of the species is threatened.
Maslow included caveats in order to explain why certain individuals might pursue higher needs before lower ones. For example, some people who are especially driven by the desire to express themselves creatively may pursue self-actualization even if their lower needs are unmet. Similarly, individuals who are particularly dedicated to pursuing higher ideals may achieve self-actualization despite adversity that prevents them from meeting their lower needs. www.thoughtco.com/...
Maslow contended that self-actualized individuals are capable of transcending reality through ‘peak experiences.’ They are highly creative and autonomous and fueled by the belief that they are part of something which is larger than themselves.
3 Characteristics of Peak Experiences
- Fulfillment: Peak experiences generate positive emotions and are intrinsically rewarding.
- Significance: Peak experiences lead to an increase in personal awareness and understanding and can serve as a turning point in a person's life.
- Spiritual: During a peak experience, people feel at one with the world and often experience a sense of losing track of time. www.verywellmind.com/...
Participating with thousands of others in climate demonstrations is quite definitely a “peak experience.”
Philosopher and psychologist William James, often referred to as the father of US psychology, believed the individual possessed an instinctual need to pass on their genes to future generations. What happens to this instinct when that future is no longer a foregone conclusion?
“When you have young people who are confronted with not having a future at all, of course, this is going to radicalize a whole generation,” says Nyke Slawik, a 27-year-old member of the Germany Green party, who was elected to serve in Germany’s parliament in September. “This is a question of survival.”
From Fridays For Future website:
or FFF, is a youth-led and -organised global climate strike movement that started in August 2018, when 15-year-old Greta Thunberg began a school strike for climate. In the three weeks leading up to the Swedish election, she sat outside Swedish Parliament every school day, demanding urgent action on the climate crisis. She was tired of society’s unwillingness to see the climate crisis for what it is: a crisis.
To begin with, she was alone, but she was soon joined by others. On the 8th of September, Greta and her fellow school strikers decided to continue their strike until the Swedish policies provided a safe pathway well under 2° C, i.e. in line with the Paris agreement. They created the hashtag #FridaysForFuture, and encouraged other young people all over the world to join them. This marked the beginning of the global school strike for climate.
Their call for action sparked an international awakening, with students and activists uniting around the globe to protest outside their local parliaments and city halls. Along with other groups across the world, Fridays for Future is part of a hopeful new wave of change, inspiring millions of people to take action on the climate crisis, and we want you to become one of us! fridaysforfuture.org/...
Perhaps youth climate activists have passed into a new dimension, occupying a unique space fueled by the passion to save not just themselves and future offspring but also to save the planet. It would appear as though Maslow’s pyramid is upended: Today’s reality has endangered physiological and safety needs. The need for love and respect is fulfilled by participation in the movement itself, where one also finds self-esteem, strength, and freedom. Perhaps the power of the collective gives birth to the self-actualization of the whole.
We live in unparalleled times. Times when the wisdom and passion of youth is a powerful force in addressing the climate emergency. Maybe it is time to add a sixth need to Maslow’s hierarchy, something like a need for planetary cohesion.
Because, when all is said and done, that’s what youth are truly seeking.
Youth Climate Activists Tweets From Around the World
The writers in Climate Brief work to keep the Daily Kos community informed and engaged with breaking news about the climate crisis around the world while providing inspiring stories of environmental heroes, opportunities for direct engagement, and perspectives on the intersection of climate activism with spirituality, politics, and the arts.