Presentation short abstract

This article explores the potential role of emotions and art-based approaches to overcome increasingly polarized societies by fostering mutual empathy and generating transformative power. It draws on a 3-year participatory research project exploring just land-use transitions in the Pyrénées.

Presentation long abstract

It is increasingly recognized that for ecological transitions to take place, they must be socially just, and therefore co-constructed by those affected, so as to take into account their justice claims. This is obviously not a simple matter. While political ecologists have highlighted the need to address deeply rooted power asymmetries, the question of how to deal with an increasingly polarized world remains unsufficiently addressed. There are indeed strong divisions opposing actors with conflicting justice claims, stifling the needed collaborative efforts towards just transitions. This article explores the potential role of emotions and art-based approaches to overcome such divides by fostering mutual empathy and generating transformative power, i.e. countering oppressive power. This work draws on a 3-year participatory action-research project conducted in the Pyrénées mountains, in a valley marked by strong oppositions between traditional livestock farmers and neo-rural organic farmers. Through art-based methodologies such as creative writing, the project created a safe space for them to confront their visions, share emotions and deeply held values, and collectively explore just transformations of their valley. This process was followed by a film maker, who turned it into a documentary of great sensitivity, which resonates beyond the valley, prolonging and expanding mutual empathy and collective empowerment. This article analyses the oppressive and transformative power dynamics at work in this process, and deciphers the mechanisms through which emotions played a role to overcome polarizations, foster mutual empathy and generate transformative power. The article also questions the researcher’s position and emotions in such processes.