A field perspective on sustainability transitions: The case of religious organizations

How “green” can religions be? Tensions about religious environmentalism

“…These studies are taken from the literature on religious environmentalism and have been conducted by researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds (e.g., anthropology, political sciences, religious studies, sociology, theology). Many of them are part of a volume on the tensions in religious environmentalism (Koehrsen et al 2021).…”

“…These struggled to overcome these "reservations" in the light of nature protection. Sociological field models can help to explain such interreligious tensions by stressing the competition between religious groups (Koehrsen and Huber 2021;Huber 2021). When environmental sustainability assumes an increasing importance in public agendas, credible engagement in this topic may become an asset in struggles for societal legitimacy.…”

“…“Greening” programs face resistance in religious organizations. Research on mainline Christian churches in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland illustrates this resistance (Koehrsen and Huber 2021 ; Huber and Koehrsen 2020 ): umbrella organizations seek to push environmental sustainability, while local congregations often oppose these green policies of their head organizations. The head organizations have designed environmental programs, new regulations and ecological support schemes for their local congregations.…”

“…Umbrella organizations sometimes face strong resistance in implementing more environmentally friendly measures in their congregations. The aforementioned research (Koehrsen and Huber 2021 ; Huber and Koehrsen 2020 ) relates these frictions to different priorities at the level of congregations and umbrella organizations. While umbrella organizations address the public image of the given denomination and, therefore, increasingly engage in environmental sustainability, congregations tend to avoid distractions from their focus on their individual members and congregational core activities.…”

“…This example illustrates the tensions of religious environmentalism. It stands for the ongoing disagreements in many religious traditions over environmental engagement (Koehrsen and Huber 2021). While many scholars have highlighted the potentials of religions to address environmental challenges and suggested a "greening" of religions (Chaplin 2016;Tucker 2006;Tucker and Grim 2016;Palmer 2013), the tensions show that religious environmentalism is an embattled terrain that involves actors with diverging interests, backgrounds, and understandings of their traditions.…”