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collective trauma & the cultural crisis

“Of all the dangers we face, from climate chaos to permanent war, none is so great as this deadening of our response.”

~Joanna Macy

Trauma occurs where vitality has come to a standstill. Trauma is not an individual problem; it is a social problem and it is systemic. It does not belong to an individual, but is relational and always occurs within a context.

Collective trauma occurs when groups of people dominate and others are excluded, when human rights are violated. Think of racism, colonialism, and sexism. The consequences lie like a layer of permafrost in the history of humanity (Thomas Hübl).

Many indigenous peoples see the interconnectedness. In modern Western culture, we have come to believe in the illusion of separateness and hyper-individualism. This culture lies at the roots of the climate and ecological crisis. This crisis is about injustice that is so interwoven in our culture that we hardly see it.

The people who contribute most to exacerbating the crisis are the least affected by its consequences. Climate disruption hits those who contribute the least the hardest, such as people in the global south, young people, people who are not even born yet, and species other than our own. We in the West live a life of privilege, which brings with it a responsibility to address injustice and do the right thing. Standing up against injustice stems from our concern for others.

If there is one thing that the climate and ecological crisis makes abundantly clear, it is that we are all connected. All life on Earth breathes the same air. All life is physically connected to and therefore also by the Earth. And everything that every human being contributes makes a difference. Healing collective trauma is everyone’s responsibility. We heal this when we can see and feel the other in ourselves.

Photo: Simon Berger