Philosophers Fight Climate Change Series
This interview series highlights the exciting ways philosophers engage the public to combat a central crisis of our time.
Rebecca Millsop is a senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Rhode Island. She is co-founder of Philosophers for Sustainability, and she co-chairs the 2022 Eastern APA Teaching Hub.
What type(s) of public philosophy do you do?
Over the past several years, much of my work has focused on improving the profession of philosophy itself. In early 2019, I co-founded Philosophers for Sustainability with my friend and colleague Eugene Chislenko. Our goal has been to create a venue for philosophers to discover and create ways to fight the climate crisis doing what we are already doing as philosophers. I have been influenced by Robin Zheng’s Role-Ideal model of responsibility which claims that we should “push the boundaries of our social roles” to work towards structural change in the face of injustice. The work our organization does is focused on pushing the boundaries of our entire profession.
While working with us, philosophers often recognize for the first time that being a professional philosopher can involve an important kind of activism. We can introduce units on climate change into our courses, work with our departments to begin abiding by the recommendations made in the APA Good Practices Guide on Sustainability (written by our organization), advocate for changes within our professional organizations that discourage flying and problematic consumption, and engage with our colleagues in dialogue surrounding these issues to move them forward.
I am deeply invested in grounding this work in a genuinely supportive, caring, collaborative ethos. One of my main roles in the organization is facilitating our regular forum meetings where we discuss our current campaigns alongside other topics relevant to our work. I take the role of facilitator very seriously as it involves setting the tone, overseeing relationship-building among participants, and curating the overall vibe. My goal is for participants to leave feeling like they can be part of a real community of supportive colleagues—both listened to and able to listen to others in non-combative and meaningful ways. Further, I hope that this type of experience can become regularly expected in other aspects of the profession as well.
Give an example of a successful project.
We recently launched the very exciting APA 2+1 Campaign. The idea started with Helen De Cruz, which she introduces in a recent blog post for the APA Blog Series Climate Matters (another example of one of our recent projects). We are working to move at least one of the three annual divisional meetings of the APA to an online format, with the in-person meeting(s) rotating between the three divisions. We launched the campaign in late August 2021 and have garnered support from 675 signatories as of October 2021. The APA has so far responded positively to our campaign; they sent out a survey in response shortly after the campaign went live.
Whether or not the campaign is ultimately successful in changing the formatting schedule of the APA divisional meetings will be determined in the near future. Regardless, the campaign has started this important conversation within the profession. Instead of thinking of the impact of professional philosophers as individuals, we can now address how one of our preeminent professional organizations is (or is not) addressing the climate crisis.
How does this work benefit the public(s) you engage with?
I think Philosophers for Sustainability is beneficial to the profession of philosophy in several ways. First, it creates a space where activism can coexist with our professional identities. Many philosophers who care about climate change haven’t been able to merge their personal and professional identities, especially those who do not specialize in environmental philosophy. Second, it provides a supportive, collaborative environment for members of the profession. Connecting with people while doing very meaningful, impactful work creates the possibility for healthy, productive relationships in the field. Finally, if members of the profession start pushing on their social role as philosophers, we can make big changes that have real, positive effects on the environment. This impact can go way beyond the boundaries of the profession!
If someone wanted to take on public philosophy work like yours, what steps or resources would you recommend?
Join Philosophers for Sustainability! Anyone can learn more about us through our website–https://www.philosophersforsustainability.com—and should feel free to email us at philosophersforsustainability@gmail.com with any questions. We are an international organization and we are always looking for new members to join and bring their ideas to the table.
What motivates you to do this work?
One important motivation is simply that we really have to do everything we can to address the climate crisis. This has been true for a very long time and many people are just now waking up to the severity of the issue. This is one impactful way that I can use my already existing knowledge and skills to push for change. Fighting climate change as an individual is depressing and often feels completely useless. Fighting climate change as an organization is empowering and impactful.
The other motivation is that solidarity simply feels really good. I really enjoy spending time with my colleagues doing this work. Because we have put a lot of effort into creating a friendly, collaborative, and caring environment, we get along well. I consider my Philosophers for Sustainability colleagues my friends, even though I haven’t actually met most of them in person! I want to be involved in and foster these types of environments so that more philosophers are given the chance to feel a real sense of belonging and community. The ultimate goal is to make these types of relationships and environments the norm in our profession.
Did you have an experience as a student or in your life that led you to embrace your public philosophy work?
As a graduate student I worked on a project to create a database with information about philosophers from underrepresented backgrounds that could be used by departments and committees when inviting speakers or hiring new faculty. When I joined the project, the goal was to simply get together a nice spreadsheet that could be shared widely. I ended up teaching myself how to build and maintain websites in order to create a designated one for the project, which is now maintained by the APA: The UPDirectory.
At the time I was really struggling to find meaning in the profession and trying to decide if I wanted to put my effort into this type of career. Working on that project helped me connect with the profession in a meaningful way. I found genuine support from the senior faculty leading the project; they believed the work itself was important and understood how beneficial the project could be for the profession at large. I am grateful for that experience because it helped me see how creating tools for the profession can be a type of civic engagement.
How does your public philosophy work change your relationships with people inside of philosophy?
This work has absolutely changed how I engage with people inside of philosophy! Instead of just talking philosophy, I am motivated to start up discussions surrounding the projects I am invested in with the hopes of finding other passionate, collaborative colleagues to join in. Now, when I am engaged with other philosophers, I am always at least a little in activist mode—How can I get this person to get involved and help push on the structural barriers in the way of climate justice (or racial justice or pedagogical justice)? That is exciting and certainly makes for many more interesting conversations.
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