the trinity of despair

Professor Maniates’ “trinity of despair” is a very accurate assessment of the barriers to effectiveness of the environmental movement. The three assumptions he suggests are ones I have seen dishearten many, including myself. Because Maniates confronted these assumptions head-on and explained how they do not necessarily have to be barriers to momentum in environmental change, I am able to think in a different way about how to be an effective environmental change agent. For example, he stressed that in order to build social movements and create change, it is not necessary to have a majority of the population on board. I think this assumption is especially difficult to breakdown because without overwhelming support, efforts feel futile and resignation sets in. I think what helped me to accept Maniates’ proposal that we don’t need large-scale support in order to be successful is that the most effective changes we can make need to be at the policy level, where we make eco-friendly activities a natural part of every day functioning (like his example about instituting a mug-rental in all Starbucks shops). It doesn’t take an army of supporters to make fundamental changes in how we function in every day life.
For example, when computers were first introduced, there was no mass social movement behind implementing widespread use of the new technology. However, the technology became institutionalized by the few, and now we use computers for everything in our every day lives without even thinking twice about it. Not having an email address has become taboo. The same needs to be done in the environmental protection arena. A small group has the ability to implement institutional changes, and as a result create a shift in the American way of life. Driving an SUV while eating McDonald's out of a styrofoam container needs to become taboo.