Eco-Activism and Social Work: New Directions in Leadership and Group Work

Social workers are called upon to shift from a human-centric bias to an ecological ethical sensibility by embracing love as integral to their justice mission and by extending the idea of social justice to include environmental and species justice. This book presents the love ethic model as a way to do eco-justice work using public campaigns, research, community arts practice and other nonviolent, direct action strategies.

The model is premised on an active and ongoing commitment to the eco-values of love, eco-justice and nonviolence for the purpose of upholding the public interest. The love ethic model is informed by the stories of eco-activists who used nonviolent actions to address ecological issues such as: pollution; degradation of the environment; exploitation of farm animals; mining industry overriding First Nation Peoples’ land rights; and human health and social costs related to the natural resource industries, private land developments and government infrastructure projects.

Informed by practice insights by activists from a range of eco-justice concerns, this innovative book provides new directions in social work and environmental studies involving transformational change leadership and dialogical group work between interest groups. It should be considered essential reading for social work students, researchers and practitioners as well as eco-activists more generally.

Dyann Ross is a senior lecturer in social work in the School of Social Science at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Dyann is a social worker with over forty years of practice in the areas of mental health, training and development in the human services and mining sectors and community and tertiary education.

Martin Brueckner is the co-founder and co-director of the Centre for Responsible Citizenship and Sustainability (CRCS) and senior lecturer at the School of Business and Governance at Murdoch University. Martin is a social ecologist whose work focuses on the politics and political economy of sustainable development, sustainable communities and regional sustainability using a transdisciplinary approach.

Marilyn Palmer teaches eco-social work theory and practice at Edith Cowan University through the curriculum in community development, gender, and social policy. She uses participatory research methodologies to better understand how post-structural ecofeminism can inform social work practice in the areas of domestic violence, community building and disaster recovery.

Wallea Eaglehawk is a sociologist, freelance writer and works in the community arts sector in roles such as arts producer, place making and events coordination. Wallea’s interests include the areas of veganism, self-care and critical reflection, health, wellbeing and cultural phenomena.