Matthew Adams | University of Brighton (original) (raw)

Books by Matthew Adams

Routledge, 2020

(From book cover): This ground-breaking book critically extends the psychological project, seekin... more (From book cover): This ground-breaking book critically extends the psychological project, seeking to investigate the relations between human and more-than-human worlds against the backdrop of the Anthropocene by emphasising the significance of encounter, interaction and relationships.

Interdisciplinary environmental theorist Matthew Adams draws inspiration from a wealth of ideas emerging in human–animal studies, anthrozoology, multi-species ethnography and posthumanism, offering a framing of collective anthropogenic ecological crises to provocatively argue that the Anthropocene is also an invitation – to become conscious of the ways in which human and nonhuman are inextricably connected. Through a series of strange encounters between human and nonhuman worlds, Adams argues for the importance of cultivating attentiveness to the specific and situated ways in which the fates of multiple species are bound together in the Anthropocene. Throughout the book this argument is put into practice, incorporating everything from Pavlov’s dogs, broiler chickens, urban trees, grazing sheep and beached whales, to argue that the Anthropocene can be good to think with, conducive to a seeing ourselves and our place in the world with a renewed sense of connection, responsibility and love.

Building on developments in feminist and social theory, anthropology, ecopsychology, environmental psychology, (post)humanities, psychoanalysis and phenomenology, this is fascinating reading for academics and students in the field of critical psychology, environmental psychology, and human–animal studies.

This book draws on recent developments across a range of perspectives including psychoanalysis, n... more This book draws on recent developments across a range of perspectives including psychoanalysis, narrative studies, social practice theory, posthumanism and trans-species psychology, to establish a radical psychosocial alternative to mainstream understanding of ‘environmental problems’. Only by addressing the psychological and social structures maintaining unsustainable societies might we glimpse the possibility of genuinely sustainable future.The challenges posed by the reality of human-caused ‘environmental problems’ are unprecedented. Understanding how we respond to knowledge of these problems is vital if we are to have a hope of meeting this challenge. Psychology and the social sciences have been drafted in to further this understanding, and inform interventions encouraging sustainable behaviour. However, to date, much of psychology has appeared happy to tinker with individual behaviour change, or encourage minor modifications in the social environment aimed at ‘nudging’ individual behaviour. As the ecological crisis deepens, it is increasingly recognised that mainstream understandings and interventions are inadequate to the collective threat posed by climate change and related ecological crises.

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'This is a superb book; beautifully written, lucid, and engaging, with illuminating critical discussions of the concept of reflexivity, psychoanalytic perspectives, and Foucaultian analysis, locating these theories in up-to-date research and discussions about class and gender. This book will be indispensable as an aid to students looking for an introduction to concepts of the self set in contemporary everyday contexts that they can relate to. But it will also be useful to teachers and researchers looking for orientation in a complex and burgeoning field of literature and research' - Ian Burkitt, University of Bradford

How does social change influence selfhood? What are the fundamental positions in social theories of the self? How are social changes interwoven with our ability to choose our identities and lifestyles? This accessible and assured book gives readers a new take on the fundamental question of the relation between the individual and society.

By offering a thorough, informed and critical guide to the field, Adams demonstrates how global economic and employment structures, neo-liberal discourse, the role of emotion, irrationality and ambiguity are factors that impact upon the shape and resilience of the self. Anyone interested in the question of identity and its relation to cultural, social, economic and political contexts will find this book a God-send, making it ideal for students and lecturers in cultural studies, sociology, social psychology and communications.

The Reflexive Self is a critical discussion of contemporary self-identity as a reflexive project,... more The Reflexive Self is a critical discussion of contemporary self-identity as a reflexive project, which Anthony Giddens claims has emerged as a result of recent and radical social upheavals in late modernity. It initially traces the development of an account of social change and self-identity in Giddens's writing. The author then offers a critical analysis of Giddens's key claims. Drawing on a wide range of critical social and psychological theory, the idea of a reflexively formed self- identity is problematised by various issues: the culturally situated nature of modern identity; aspects of self-experience which may compromise a reflexive understanding of the self; and the importance of social relations of power in a theorisation of self-identity. These discussions are clarified by reference to various illustrative psychosocial topics such as social class, intimacy, fate, trust. and power. The author claims that Giddens's notion of reflexivity needs to be extensively revised in order to more accurately represent contemporary forms of self-identity.

Papers by Matthew Adams

Trace: Journal for Human-Animal Studies , 2021

The focus of this article is the collaborative creation of Pavlov and the Kingdom of Dogs, a grap... more The focus of this article is the collaborative creation of Pavlov and the Kingdom of Dogs, a graphic nonfiction novel aimed at highlighting the lives of dogs experimented upon by Ivan Pavlov in late 19th and early 20th-century Russia. The novel delves into the intricate human-canine relationships within the context of St. Petersburg's scientific, cultural, and political landscape. The collaboration between a researcher, a professional illustrator, and a script editor aimed to challenge anthropocentric narratives prevalent in historical representations of Pavlov and experimental science. Rooted in animal studies and psychology, this project explores the potential of arts-based methods to centre animals and their relationships within historical contexts. It aims to deepen depictions of animal experiences and agency while bridging the gap between human-animal studies and psychology, where attention to animal lives in research settings remains limited. By focusing on Pavlov's experiments, the project seeks to redefine experimental animals as active historical subjects, contributing to broader discussions on human-animal relationships and ethical responsibilities. The article delineates the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the graphic novel, provides insights into the comics-based research process, and discusses the affordances and challenges of this approach. It concludes by reflecting on the potential of comics-based research to engage both academic and public audiences, ultimately advocating for a deeper understanding of human-animal entanglements and their implications in contemporary society.

Current Opinion in Psychology, 2021

This article is a review of recent contributions in critical psychology and its close cousins, cr... more This article is a review of recent contributions in critical psychology and its close cousins, critical social psychology, critical community psychology and liberation psychology, to understand human response to climate change. It contrasts critical psychology with mainstream psychology in general terms, before introducing a critical psychological perspective on climate change. Central to this perspective is a critique of the framing of individual behaviour change as the problem and solution to climate change in mainstream psychology and a related emphasis on identifying 'barriers' to proenvironmental behaviour. This framework is argued to be reductive, obscuring or downplaying the influence of a range of factors in shaping predominant responses to climate change to date, including social context, discourse, power and affect. Currently, critical psychologies set out to study the relative contribution of these factors to (in)action on climate change. A related concern is how the psychological and emotional impacts of climate change impact unevenly on communities and individuals, depending on place-based, economic, geographic and cultural differences, and give rise to experiences of injustice, inequality and disempowerment. Critical psychology does not assume these to be overriding or inevitable psychological and social responses, however. Critical psychologies also undertake research and inform interventions that highlight the role of collective understanding, activism, empowerment and resistance as the necessary foundations of a genuine shift towards sustainable societies.

Qualitative Research in Psychology , 2024

This article makes the case for the value of qualitative methods in advancing our understanding o... more This article makes the case for the value of qualitative methods in advancing our understanding of human-animal relations and multispecies relations in psychology, introducing the first special issue of a journal dedicated to qualitative psychology and the field of human-animal studies. It offers a thematic summary of the articles organized into four sections. Each section includes a reflection on the methods adopted in the context of broader developments in human-animal studies. To do so, Gorman’s conceptualisation of mutualistic, parasitic, mutualist and commensal relations is utilised, as a basis for deciding whether the methods adopted allow us to consider ‘who benefits and how’ from the human-animal and multispecies relationships scrutinised in this issue. Particularly in showcasing qualitative methods that centre the experience and agency of animals where they have traditionally been discounted, it is concluded that this special issue constitutes a significant moment in the development of psychology as a discipline.

Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2024

In this article I report on the novel use of arts-based research to explore the lives of experime... more In this article I report on the novel use of arts-based research to explore the lives of experimental animals in Ivan Pavlov’s physiological and psychological studies. I describe the collaborative production of two artefacts - a graphic novel and a public art installation consisting of a series of three-dimensional scale models. Both artefacts were designed to reimagine and re-present the detail of the lives and treatment of the dogs in Pavlov’s care, as entangled in wider human-animal relationships and events. I discuss the arts-based research process involved and reflect on the outcomes in relation to two objectives: to bring critical developments of ‘the animal turn’, animal studies and the posthumanities into contact with Psychology as a discipline; and to contribute to the development of methods concerned with addressing the complexity of human-animal and multispecies relationships. Finally I consider the broader potential of arts-based research for challenging anthropocentrism and fostering alternatives.

British Gestalt Journal, 2022

This article explores the role of anthropocentric ideology, and belief systems in hampering effec... more This article explores the role of anthropocentric ideology, and belief systems in hampering effective individual and collective responses to ecological crises. In the context of the Anthropocene, it considers how anthropocentrism is culturally widespread and habitually reproduced across a range of practices. However, to avoid overly deterministic readings of the power of anthropocentrism, the article considers how human-centred ways of thinking and working are being challenged in many areas of life. It focuses on psychology, psychotherapy and related disciplines, drawing on examples of research, professional practice and everyday life that are actively questioning anthropocentrism. It considers if and how therapeutic practices can engage with human healing whilst meaningfully shifting the focus to the ways in which human health and well-being is entangled with other-than-humans. The article then critically considers whether an animist worldview can effectively frame an alternative to anthropocentrism, exploring if and how animism can be appropriately understood within a nonindigenous and everyday context. The article concludes by reflecting on the wider ethical and political challenge for psychology of actively unlearning anthropocentrism.

Ecopsychology, 2012

This paper emerges from our experience of delivering a course in ecopsychology to final-year unde... more This paper emerges from our experience of delivering a course in ecopsychology to final-year undergraduate psychology and social science students at the University of Brighton in the United Kingdom. Our course in ecopsychology utilizes an inquiry or problem-based learning (PBL) approach alongside more traditional teaching methods, as we consider there to be a good fit between the subject matter of ecopsychology and the practice of PBL. In what follows we first offer a short account of why we wanted to teach ecopsychology in the first place, followed by an outline of the specific educational context in which the course is taught. We then describe how we have approached the structure, content, and delivery of the course more specifically, including the rationale and pragmatics of the problembased learning component. Why Ecopsychology? R unning parallel to personal attachments to nonhuman nature in one form or another, both of us have a longstanding interest in psychology, nature, and environmentalism. The impetus for developing the course was a chance meeting with David Kidner, one of Matt's former tutors. The meeting coincided with a degree of personal disillusionment with critical psychology. Delving back into the area, Kidner's work (e.g., Kidner, 2001, 2007), and discovering the growth in ecopsychology, the birth of this journal, and related developments, brought alive all sorts of connections in Matt's thinking. The desire to teach something in this area flourished and took shape on meeting Martin. In their teaching, both Matt and Martin wished to engage with the growing environmental crisis. Both felt ecopsychology offered the potential to explore

Theory & Psychology, 2012

Recent cross-cultural studies of personality traits have been ambitious in their scope, bringing ... more Recent cross-cultural studies of personality traits have been ambitious in their scope, bringing together dozens of researchers to measure personality across many cultures. The key claim made in this paper is that a persistent form of ethnocentrism mars the presentation and interpretation of findings in cross-cultural studies of personality traits using evolutionary approaches. It is a form long-established as problematic and referred to in anthropology and related social science disciplines as allochronic discourse. A significant research report will be analysed to explore how allochronic discourse, conceptualizations of time, and representations of “otherness” are utilized. The reproduction of allochronic discourse is argued to indicate a need for cross-cultural personality psychologists to engage in multi-disciplinary debate, embrace innovative methodologies, and acknowledge the cultural specificity of its own conceptual frameworks.

Ecopsychology

A number of projects support people with mental health difficulties through connecting them with ... more A number of projects support people with mental health difficulties through connecting them with nature. Their popularity reflects a growing evidence base recognizing that being in nature can have significant benefits for well-being. This study reports on the social and psychological benefits of being involved in a specific program that aims to help people with mental ill health experience a connection with nature in a supportive social group. The experiences of nine different groups of participants (N = 87) over 3 years of a naturebased program were examined. A thematic analysis of participants' accounts of their experiences revealed the specific personal and social benefits to be gained from participation in a nature-based program. Four key interrelated themes emerged: escape, being present, social contact, and personal growth. These findings suggest nature-based recovery is aided by the mutually reinforcing dynamics of being in nature, shared recognition and support through contact with others, and greater understanding of the self. The implications of these findings for a recovery model of mental health are discussed. Key Words: Belonging-Identity-Mental health-Nature connectedness-Recovery-Social contact. 1 Nature-based interventions are also referred to collectively as green care and ecotherapy (Bragg & Atkins, 2016).

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

This paper provides an empirical application of some recent developments in the social science of... more This paper provides an empirical application of some recent developments in the social science of sustainability to understanding sustainable transport behaviour. We analyse talk about holidaymaking taken from interviews with self-defined "eco" or "sustainable" tourists. The focus of this paper explores the ways in which participants understand and reconcile the potential conflict of air transport and the notion of sustainable holidays. We identify a number of discursive strategies participants used to project and maintain positive self-representations in the context of complex, often incompatible constructions of sustainability derived from this particular dilemma. Such strategies are considered as concrete examples of the psychosocial organisation of denial and thus offer discursive barriers to sustainable transport futures. However, the analysis also demonstrates the ways in which some individuals were able to resist or challenge such forms of socially organised denial. The potential implications of these discursive barriers and strategies for sustainable transport futures and the tourism sector are discussed.

A report on the well-being benefits of nature connection for people with experience of mental dis... more A report on the well-being benefits of nature connection for people with experience of mental distress. Brighton, Community University Partnership Programme, University of Brighton. 'I enjoyed being able to wander off... & take pictures but know that I had people to come back to & have the safety of the group' p.16

Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2016

Debates surrounding the human impact on climate change have, in recent years, proliferated in pol... more Debates surrounding the human impact on climate change have, in recent years, proliferated in political, academic, and public rhetoric. Such debates have also played out in the context of tourism research (e.g. extent to which anthropogenic climate change exists; public understanding in relation to climate change and tourism). Taking these debates as its point of departure, whilst also adopting a post-structuralist position, this paper offers a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis of comments to an online BBC news article concerning climate change. Our analysis finds three key ways responsibility is mitigated through climate change talk: scepticism towards the scientific evidence surrounding climate change; placing responsibility on the 'distant other' through a nationalistic discourse; and presenting CO2 as 'plant food'. The implications of these ways of thinking about climate change are discussed with a focus on how this translates into action related to the sustainability of tourism behaviours. In doing so, it concludes that a deeper understanding of everyday climate talk is essential if the tourism sector is to move towards more sustainable forms of consumption.

GeoJournal, 2014

Drawing on contemporary research into ethical consumption and sustainable tourism this article st... more Drawing on contemporary research into ethical consumption and sustainable tourism this article starts by outlining the ways in which sustainable tourism (and other forms of ethical consumption) has been understood as a means to perform class based distinctions. At this stage, it is suggested that whilst class may be one factor in understanding such a complex phenomena there might also be a need to examine the practices of sustainable tourist in a manner that takes seriously individual attempts to 'be ethical'. Foucault's understanding of ethics is then offered as a means through which this can be achieved. A brief account of the method used to read individuals accounts of sustainable tourism through an ethical Foucauldian lens is then presented. Following this the paper presents the analysis of interviews with sustainable tourists focusing on two key elements. Firstly, the analysis presents the emotional and reciprocal elements of interactions between sustainable tourists and the human 'other'. Secondly the analysis examines the relationship between the sustainable tourist and nonhuman environments to further develop the understanding of the emotional and reciprocal elements in light of a Foucauldian ethics. In conclusion it is suggested that rather than merely representing a mode of class distinction, sustainable tourism can be understood through an appreciation of the emotional and reciprocal relationship with the other, thus taking seriously individuals attempts to engage with ethical practices.

The environmental challenges that confront society are unprecedented and staggering in their scop... more The environmental challenges that confront society are unprecedented and staggering in their scope, pace and complexity. Unless we reframe and examine them through a social lens, societal responses will be too little, too late and potentially blind to negative consequences' (Hackmann et al. 2014, p. 653). Hackmann and colleagues make this claim on the back of growing recognition that knowing about, communicating and acting upon interrelated ecological crises, is embedded in social processes. It is also a tacit acknowledgement of the limitations of an exclusively psychological and individualizing approach-framing 'environmental problems' as 'behavioural problems', rooted in individual cognitive biases, attitudes and habits. Obstacles to change, in the direction of an ill-defined 'sustainability', have accordingly been theorized at the level of psychological 'barriers' (e.g. Gifford, 2010). Both of us have highlighted the limits of addressing human responsibility for ecological crisis in terms of psychological barriers and behavioural interventions aimed at targeting them; and in developing alternative

Qualitative Research, 2021

There is a burgeoning interest in human–animal relations across the social sciences and humanitie... more There is a burgeoning interest in human–animal relations across the social sciences and humanities, accompanied by an acceptance that nonhuman animals are active participants in countless social relations, worthy of serious and considered empirical exploration. This article, the first of its kind as far as the authors are aware, reports on an ongoing qualitative exploration of an example of contemporary human–animal interaction on the fringes of a British city: volunteer shepherding (‘lookering’). Participants are part of a conservation grazing scheme, a growing phenomenon in recent years that relies on increasingly popular volunteer programmes. The primary volunteer role in such schemes is to spend time outdoors checking the welfare of livestock. The first section of the article summarises developments in more-than-human and multispecies research methodologies, and how the challenges of exploring the non- and more-than-human in particular are being addressed. In the second section, we frame our own approach to a human–animal relation against this emerging literature and detail the practicalities of the methods we used. The third section details some of our findings specifically in terms of what was derived from the peculiarities of our method. A final discussion offers a reflection on some of the methodological and ethical implications of our research, in terms of the question of who benefits and how from this specific instance of human–animal relations, and for the development of methods attuned to human–animal and multispecies relations more generally.

Sociological Research Online, 2008

We draw on ‘new’ class analysis to argue that mockery frames many cultural representations of cla... more We draw on ‘new’ class analysis to argue that mockery frames many cultural representations of class and move to consider how it operates within the processes of class distinction. Influenced by theories of disparagement humour, we explore how mockery creates spaces of enunciation, which serve, when inhabited by the middle class, particular articulations of distinction from the white, working class. From there we argue that these spaces, often presented as those of humour and fun, simultaneously generate for the middle class a certain distancing from those articulations. The plays of articulation and distancing, we suggest, allow a more palatable, morally sensitive form of distinction-work for the middle-class subject than can be offered by blunt expressions of disgust currently argued by some ‘new’ class theorising. We will claim that mockery offers a certain strategic orientation to class and to distinction work before finishing with a detailed reading of two Neds comic strips to i...

Routledge, 2020

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Trace: Journal for Human-Animal Studies , 2021

Current Opinion in Psychology, 2021

Qualitative Research in Psychology , 2024

Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2024

British Gestalt Journal, 2022

Ecopsychology, 2012

Theory & Psychology, 2012

Ecopsychology

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2016

GeoJournal, 2014

Qualitative Research, 2021

Sociological Research Online, 2008

The Psychologist, 2020

We have all heard of Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), the legendary Russian physiologist turned psycholog... more We have all heard of Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), the legendary Russian physiologist turned psychologist. He’s famous for the discovery of learning through association that revolutionised psychology, and kickstarted one of the most important and controversial schools of thought in the discipline – behaviourism. But how often do we stop to think about the lives of Pavlov’s dogs?

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 2020

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to articulate a meaningful response to recent calls to “in... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to articulate a meaningful response to recent calls to “indigenize” and “decolonize” the Anthropocene in the social sciences and humanities; and in doing so to challenge and extend dominant conceptualisations of the Anthropocene offered to date within a posthuman and more-than-human intellectual context.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops a radical material and relational ontology, purposefully drawing on an indigenous knowledge framework, as it is specifically exemplified in Maori approaches to anthropogenic impacts on species and multi-species entanglements. The paper takes as its focus particular species of whales, trees and humans and their entanglements. It also draws on, critically engages with, and partially integrates posthuman and more-than-human theory addressing the Anthropocene.
Findings – The findings of this study are that we will benefit from approaching the Anthropocene from situated and specific ontologies rooted in place, which can frame multi-species encounters in novel and productive ways.
Research limitations/implications – The paper calls for a more expansive and critical version of social science in which the relations between human and more-than-human becomes much more of a central concern; but in doing so it must recognize the importance of multiple histories, knowledge systems and narratives, the marginalization of many of which can be seen as a symptom of ecological crisis. The paper also proposes adopting Zoe Todd’s suggested tools to further indigenize the Anthropocene – though there remains much more scope to do so both theoretically and methodologically.
Practical implications – The paper argues that Anthropocene narratives must incorporate deeper colonial histories and their legacies; that related research must pay greater attention to reciprocity and relatedness, as advocated by posthuman scholarship in developing methodologies and research agendas; and that nonhuman life should remain firmly in focus to avoid reproducing human exceptionalism.
Social implications – In societies where populations are coming to terms in different ways with living through an era of environmental breakdown, it is vital to seek out forms of knowledge and progressive collaboration that resonate with place and with which progressive science and humanities research can learn and collaborate; to highlight narratives which “give life and dimension to the strategies – oppositional, affirmative, and yes, often desperate and fractured – that emerge from those who bear the brunt of the planet’s ecological crises” (Nixon, 2011, p. 23).
Originality/value – The paper is original in approaching the specific and situated application of indigenous ontologies in some of their grounded everyday social complexity, with the potential value of opening up the Anthropocene imaginary to a more radical and ethical relational ontology.

Theory & Psychology, 2020

The growth of Human–Animal Studies, multi-species, and posthuman scholarship reflects an “animal ... more The growth of Human–Animal Studies, multi-species, and posthuman scholarship reflects an “animal turn” offering important theoretical, ethical, and methodological challenges to humanities, science, and social science disciplines, though psychology, in particular, has been slow to engage with these developments. This article is the first to apply the conceptual lens of the “animal turn” to Pavlov’s experiments with dogs. It is unique in applying in particular the work of feminist cultural theorist Donna Haraway, to radically reframe the human–animal relationship at the core of these landmark experiments. This original portrait is contrasted with contemporary retellings of those experiments which ignore or are indifferent to the complexities of that relationship. Paying attention to nonhuman others that constitute animal experimentation in psychology, historically, today, and in retellings, is argued to be a vitally important step for psychology today. The analysis provided constitutes a distinctive, radical shift in the way psychology might approach the lives of nonhuman animals, in its own past and present, with far-reaching implications for the future development of psychology.

The Conversation, 2019

We are living through a period of unprecedented environmental breakdown which is increasingly bei... more We are living through a period of unprecedented environmental breakdown which is increasingly being referred to as “the Anthropocene”. As the term becomes more and more pervasive, I want to explain why, as a psychologist and a committed environmentalist, I think it is a highly problematic way of framing our predicament...

Climate change, sustainability & psychosocial defence mechanisms: How do we respond when we are m... more Climate change, sustainability & psychosocial defence mechanisms: How do we respond when we are made to feel responsible for environmental problems?

The issue: We are living through a period of unprecedented environmental problems (e.g. climate change, pollution, deforestation, peak oil, overconsumption and waste) linked to human behaviour
The problem: The primary effect of increased knowledge of these problems, was assumed to be positive behaviour change – more sustainable & pro-environmental behaviours…
… However: research findings tell us the information, knowledge, even attitude change do not necessarily translate into action
This infographic visually maps how contemporary research in psychology explains inaction despite increased knowledge about environmental problems.

This review essay reflects on Renee Lertzman’s Environmental Melancholia (2015), which understand... more This review essay reflects on Renee Lertzman’s Environmental Melancholia (2015), which understands human engagement with ongoing ecological crises as predominantly defined by loss, melancholy and ambivalence. The book provides a psychoanalytic and psychosocial analysis of engagement and non-engagement with environmental issues, based on in-depth interviews with respondents who live in close proximity to ‘ecologically beleaguered’ places. This review provides a brief overview of Lertzman’s rationale, methodology and analysis. It then offers some critical reflections on the dimensions of engagement Lertzman offers, in terms of her understanding of the nature of loss, the salience of unconscious dynamics and her utilisation of the psychosocial.