Toward a Critical Psychology of Climate Justice

Abstract: In this article, we discuss what radical political imagination is, why it matters, and how it can contribute to developing a critical psychology of climate justice. Drawing on critical, inter and transdisciplinary approaches, we conceptualize radical political imagination as a collective and political process enabling societal actors to reflect on and (re)envision the world beyond present-day oppressive forces and the dominant social, political, and economic systems that fuel the climate crisis. Radical political imagination is a tool to simultaneously make visible the systems responsible for (impeding action on) climate change and make possible just collective futures grounded on climate justice principles. We review existing literature on the role of imagination in driving collective action and transformative change, particularly through the radical imaginative efforts of social movements. In the process, we discuss a range of alternative social and political climate imaginaries, emphasizing those proliferated by climate justice social movements to demonstrate their centrality in social change processes. Finally, we advance a research agenda for examining, encouraging, and building a critical climate justice psychology by focusing on radical political imagination. Our recommendations draw on critical and intersectional climate justice principles to advocate the inclusion of marginalized and disproportionately affected groups as well as the accompaniment of climate justice movements using critical participatory methodologies. Across these areas of emphasis, we reimagine the role of psychologists in enabling climate justice. We argue that radical political imagination offers psychologists an important framework and array of theoretical, methodological, and practical tools to strengthen critical climate psychology and advance societal transformation.