Social change is often initiated by minorities – individuals who challenge the status quo. The dominant literature paints a rather pessimistic picture about the ability of minorities to instigate change in the environmental domain: environmental activists, vegans, and other minority members often elicit social sanctions, thereby ironically reinforcing the majority’s commitment to current, environmentally harmful norms. Recent findings, however, point towards more optimism: pro-environmental minorities can pave the way towards ‘tipping points’ and spontaneous social change. Policymakers can speed up this process by offering top-down support for minorities – by giving them ‘voice’

The lecture is provided by Ass. - Prof. Jan Willem Bolderdijk, University of Amsterdam. It is taking place:

Liebiggasse 5, Lecture Hall G 2nd floor, 1010 Vienna and it will be streamed online.

For those who want to attend online, please contact colloquium.psychologie@univie.ac.at.