Using knitting to stay with the trouble

• In Event: Science and Activism: Transdisciplinary Approaches

Abstract

I have found that staying with the trouble as an activist in the climate change movement brings with it almost unendurable grief, conflict and stress. Is it actually possible to tolerate this stress and keep moving? I have been an active member of my local climate action group for over ten years. What has helped me to stay with the trouble, to use Donna Haraway's phrase, is craftivism: specifically, using crochet and knitting to explore issues relating to climate change and the more-than-human world. In this auto-ethnographic account, I discuss how knitting a representation of a grey headed flying fox helped me endure the stressful lead-up to a public "bat night" in Bathurst. The bat night was a response to the unprecedented establishment of a grey headed flying fox colony in the main town park in the summer of 2017/2018 and the Deputy Mayor's calls to get rid of it. With local animal welfare activists and ecologists deeply divided over a range of related issues, the success of the event was called into doubt. These controversies gave me sleepless nights and mental vows to quit climate activism and pursue and easier life. But focusing on completing a knitted bat, stitch by stitch, calmed me down. At the same time, the knitted bat was able to delight, defuse and unite where theoretical arguments could not. Yarn crafts, I argue, can quieten and refresh the noisy bodymind, allowing it to continue to engage with the giant issue of climate change.

Author

• Tracy Anne Sorensen