The People’s Climate March

As technology advances throughout human history, and day-to-day operations

become mechanized, it is becoming more and more apparent that the effects of

technological advancement are producing negative impacts on the environment. With

carbon emissions at an all time high, many world leaders and environmentalists alike

planned a giant march to help raise awareness about the environmental issues. The result

was the People’s Climate March, which held 2,646 events in 162 countries, including a

March in New York City with an attendance of about 400,000, according to the People’s

Climate March website. With a participation rate of this many people, complete with

many high-ranking political figures and celebrities, it calls to question the sociological

aspects of the march, and how so many people got involved. By examining the social and

cultural capital of the celebrities involved, the collective conscience of the people

involved and collective effervescence, one can more thoroughly understand the People’s

Climate March.

The People’s Climate March around the world saw millions of participants, with

many environmental leaders and politicians also involved. Names like Jane Gooodall, Al

Gore, and UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon all joined the march in New York City.

After the march, US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke about how global warming is

just as prevalent an issue as Ebola and other diseases of the sort.

Similarly, around the world many celebrities joined force with the People’s

Climate March in order to raise awareness and gain public attention. On the March’s

website, there are a list of 86 celebrity names who endorse the march. This calls to

question would the march have been such a success without the help of celebrities and

well-known politicians? Probably not. This would be an example of an organization

using the social capital, or perhaps even the cultural capital, of celebrities in order to gain

their desired benefits, in this case more participation and more attention to their cause.

When people see that their favorite celebrities, arguably people they admire, support a

certain cause there is a greater chance that people will join the cause. In today’s society,

celebrities are generally the ones to turn to when anything needs more attention.

Celebrities have a lot of social capital because they are extremely well known. Some

celebrities also have cultural capital because they might be involved in organizations that

are considered highbrow. For example, Brad Pitt is on the list of celebrities who support

the People’s Climate March. Brad Pitt and his wife Angelina Jolie are two celebrities that

are considered to have high cultural capital because of their involvement in various

charities, their adoption of their kids from various countries, and especially Jolie’s

involvement with the United Nations. As a result of this, when either of them show their

support for a cause or put their name on something, the general population tends to have

more respect for it. Whereas if Snooki or Amanda Bynes came forward in support of a

cause, people would not have as much respect for it.

A march like this, or any sort of large demonstration of the kind, is a perfect

example of an affirmation of the collective conscience. The collective conscience refers

to “the thoughts and sentiments common to a group of people” (Donovan). It also “acts as

an internal source of guidance and direction” (Donovan). The different marches around

the world act as an outward expression of the group’s collective conscience. In this case,

the general consensus of the group is that changes for and to the environment need to be

made. One other aspect of the definition of the collective conscience that is important in

relation to the People’s Climate March is that the collective conscience also has to do

with what the group perceives to be right. All of the members of The March are affirming

that they collectively believe that the environmental issues of today’s society are gravely

important and should be addressed immediately. Although the physical march in general

lacks specific details about what should be done for the environment, the signs, floats,

and general responses from the public expresses the opinion that something in general

should be done for the environment, and that something is the right thing to do.

The People’s Climate March is also almost a perfect example of collective

effervescence. Collective effervescence is when a large group comes together and is all

simultaneously communicating the same thought or feeling. This simultaneous

participation only adds to the excitement of the group and serves to unify the entire

group. In this case, the People’s Climate March is a time of great excitement. With all of

the different people gathered around the world, it is not surprising that each individual

march in itself is a great showing of collective effervescence. Each march, packed with

thousands of people all gathered for the same cause, is charged with energy that helps to

unify the group, even further than the collective conscience.

When large crowds such as the ones seen in the worldwide phenomenon known

as the People’s Climate March come together, it is easy to marvel at the large showing

that comes together for a certain cause. Along with the obvious reasons for those coming

together to march in support of a cause, steps taken to understand the sociological aspects

of the march can also help divulge the real reasons why demonstrations like these

happen. Specifically for the People’s Climate March, a look at social and cultural capital,

the collective conscience, and collective effervescence serves to further understand this

march and all displays of solidarity alike.

Work Cited

Donovan, Brian. “Durkheim Solidarity.” Lecture.

Davey, Melissa; Vaughan, Adam and Holpuch, Amanda. “People's Climate March:

thousands demand action around the world - as it happened.” The Guardian. 21

September 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2014/sep/21/peoples-

climate-march-live

People’s Climate March. http://peoplesclimate.org