Solastalgia and Hope

Theological and Postcolonial Perspectives from Europe and the Pacific responding to the ecological crisis in (religious) education

Abstract

This paper draws attention to the social as well as global consequences, but also to the profound emo­tional impact of the ecological crises from a theological perspective. The phenomenon of solastalgia, as well as the loss of holistic thinking, manifests itself as emotional or existential distress caused by environmental changes, re­sulting in the loosing of home, identity, and culture. In order to provide a response to these urgent theological as well as religious education challenges, this article makes a twofold attempt: On the one hand, it deconstructs the entanglements of Christian missionary societies in European colonial structures of domination that helped legiti­mize the exploitation of natural resources. This includes the understanding that in the name of Christianity, the suppression of indigenous forms of knowledge and cognition, which contain a treasure of concern for nature and forms of sustainable living, was legitimized. On the other hand, the engagement with these historical lines of devel­opment, however, opens up the opportunity to re-engage indigenous narratives of hope in religious education processes and to make their alternative world relations constructive, which is fed by a dialogue with indigenous episte­mology and spirituality. The aim of this paper is to find out what new insights emerge from this dialogue of contexts between the Pacific and Europe and what new horizons they can offer for religious education.