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This research explores Western society’s inability to address climate change substantively and the pathology of modernity. This dissertation resulted in two deliverables: (1) a persuasive critical literature review that defined and framed the pathology of modernity, and (2) an autoethnography on the pathology of modernity. Paper one showed the connections

This research explores Western society’s inability to address climate change substantively and the pathology of modernity. This dissertation resulted in two deliverables: (1) a persuasive critical literature review that defined and framed the pathology of modernity, and (2) an autoethnography on the pathology of modernity. Paper one showed the connections linking climate change and colonization by drawing on political ecology, Indigenous studies, environmental justice, sociology, postcolonial studies, and decolonial studies. After building a case for Western society’s responsibility for climate change, depth psychology was used to examine why many of contemporary society’s Western leaders tend to deny or ignore climate change and related systemic issues. This mindset is proposed to be an expression of a societal illness I define as the pathology of modernity. In paper two, the pathology of modernity is described through an autoethnography of my community organizing. This research used both a decolonial methodology as well as was inspired by grounded theory. Methods for the deliverables included a critical argumentative literature review and autoethnography. This research intends to change the conversation around climate change, addressing the structural power-based issues and mentality in Western society that prevents climate justice and climate action.
ContributorsTekola, Sarra (Author) / Cloutier, Scott (Thesis advisor) / Swadener, Beth (Committee member) / Amira de la Garza, Sarah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
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Green infrastructure serves as a critical no-regret strategy to address climate change mitigation and adaptation in climate action plans. Climate justice refers to the distribution of climate change-induced environmental hazards (e.g., increased frequency and intensity of floods) among socially vulnerable groups. Yet no index has addressed both climate justice and

Green infrastructure serves as a critical no-regret strategy to address climate change mitigation and adaptation in climate action plans. Climate justice refers to the distribution of climate change-induced environmental hazards (e.g., increased frequency and intensity of floods) among socially vulnerable groups. Yet no index has addressed both climate justice and green infrastructure planning jointly in the USA. This paper proposes a spatial climate justice and green infrastructure assessment framework to understand social-ecological vulnerability under the impacts of climate change. The Climate Justice Index ranks places based on their exposure to climate change-induced flooding, and water contamination aggravated by floods, through hydrological modelling, GIS spatial analysis and statistical methodologies. The Green Infrastructure Index ranks access to biophysical adaptive capacity for climate change. A case study for the Huron River watershed in Michigan, USA, illustrates that climate justice hotspots are concentrated in large cities; yet these communities have the least access to green infrastructure. This study demonstrates the value of using GIS to assess the spatial distribution of climate justice in green infrastructure planning and thereby to prioritize infrastructure investment while addressing equity in climate change adaptation.

ContributorsCheng, Chingwen (Author)
Created2016-06-29