psychology

Credo: Economic Beliefs in a World in Crisis

In our latest Feasta book, Brian Davey describes how economists preach a 'gospel' which gravely misrepresents the complexity of human psychology, exacerbates inequality and seeks to justify the destruction of communities and environments. Salvation is supposedly in efficiency, competitive markets, specialisation, technology and, above all, growth - but we are now crashing against ecological limits.

Is over-consumption hard-wired into our genes?

It's very easy to look around and conclude that human beings are subject to unending desires which are never satisfied. Many of us have an apparently unquenchable thirst for the latest gadget or fashionable knick-knack. So how has this come about? Is the tendency towards over-consumption an unavoidable part of human nature, deriving from the laws of evolution, as some have suggested?

Cultivating hope and managing despair

from Fleeing Vesuvius. Psychologist John Sharry describes how societies are struggling to come to terms with the nature and extent of the changes facing them both now and in the future. Modern psychological models of motivation and change, and of how people deal with threat and loss, suggest strategies that can be used to help individuals change and to galvanise communities into collective action.

Brilliant or barmy – what do you think?

Two long reviews of Feasta's book Fleeing Vesuvius have appeared recently, one enthusiastic, the other markedly less so. Andy Wilson of An Taisce writes that " The point hammered home repeatedly is that solo runs are futile, while collaboration and working together offers communities their best chance..... Wonderful book. Buy it.” Graham Strouts is not so convinced. Is he raising questions which Feasta members should not ignore?

John Sharry – Cultivating Hope and Managing Despair

John Sharry, a family and child psychotherapist, looked at the way communities are responding to the current crises. He drew on modern psychological models of motivation and change, and of how people deal with threat and loss, to suggest strategies which can be used both to help individuals change and to galvanise communities into collective action.