UW-Madison student Alexandra Lakind recently published an essay for Edge Effects titled, “Remixing environmental icons for a better future.”
Lakind is a doctoral student with the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. Her current work spans environmental humanities, childhood studies, and arts programming.
In her essay, Lakind looks back to early days of environmentalism and analyzes the often problematic icons used to champion the movement. She points to two pivotal symbols, the “innocent child” and “ecological Indian,” which she says were key to directing environmental action toward personal responsibility.
Other symbols of that time included Susan Spotless, meant to shame adults. Additionally, Lakind points out that the ads utilizing such characters were pervaded by whiteness and promoted “the message that environmental problems need not be understood in relation to disparities based on place, race, or class.”
While many of these characters and icons continue to be used, many have made efforts to reconceptualize their legacy. Lakind analyzes Greta Thunberg’s rise to fame, noting that while her iconic status can be contextualized by outdated environmental symbols, “she has agency to radically reclaim and remix these tropes.”
Read Lakind’s essay here.