The greening of ethics: Elective affinities and ethical parallels between Catholicism and environmental activism

By examining the role of Catholicism in the individual trajectories of individuals engaged in environmental causes, this article posits the existence of elective affinities between Catholic socialization and certain forms of environmental activism. These affinities are grounded in a continuity of ethical orientations between the two social spheres, with environmental activism enabling Catholics to preserve, at least in part, the moral relationship to the world acquired during primary socialization. In doing so, the article examines how transfers of dispositions shape specific forms of political participation and, more particularly, how these circulations contribute to a form of activism characterized by an “existential” commitment and a rejection of political uses of violence. The circulation between these religious and political forms of engagement is also linked to the existence of contact zones between the Catholic and the environmental spheres, such as the Taizé Community. The very existence of such spaces suggests that the biographies of these activists are embedded within a longer historical trajectory. These dynamics support the case for a systematic history—still to be written—of the role of Christianity in the emergence and structuring of ecological struggles.