Faith-based climate action: Religious and spiritual framings guiding vocation, activism, and volunteering

• In Event: 20861 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 15: When does Framing Work?

Abstract

This study investigates the role of religious teachings and motivations in shaping individual climate action and advocacy, with a particular focus on the spiritual dimensions of such engagement. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with members and affiliates of faith-based climate action organizations, it examines how participants: (1) frame climate change through religious narratives, (2) construct climate activism as a form of moral and spiritual labor, and (3) experience climate action as both a source of existential distress and resilience. The study is grounded in sociological theories of moral economies (Fourcade & Healy 2007), social movement framing (Benford & Snow 2000), affective and moral labor (Hochschild 1983; Gould 2009), and collective effervescence (Durkheim 1912). It reveals that faith-based activists do not perceive environmental responsibility as merely a secular or policy-driven issue but as an ethical, spiritual, and communal imperative. Their activism reconfigures climate engagement as a moral duty embedded in theological traditions, rather than as a pragmatic response to scientific or economic imperatives. In the context of Reimagining the Future of Work, this study highlights how faith-based climate activists challenge conventional distinctions between labor, activism, and religious devotion. By framing climate engagement as a form of moral labor, they resist dominant, market-driven approaches to environmentalism, instead advancing a counter-hegemonic model of ecological responsibility rooted in faith, ethics, and collective commitment. This research contributes to broader discussions on the intersections of work, morality, and environmental justice, illustrating how religious actors mobilize alternative frameworks for climate action.

Author

• Saakshi Nitin Kale, Emory University