Supporting Activists’ Wellbeing: Deconstructing Understandings of ‘Burnout’ and Experiences of Using the Power Threat Meaning Framework

<p dir="ltr">Systematic Literature Review</p><p dir="ltr">Originally used to describe workplace exhaustion, ‘burnout’ is now also used to describe people stepping back from activism. Critical stances have posited that the ways in which burnout is conceptualised may obscure social context and power. This meta-synthesis explores discourses around the causes of activist burnout and how they may shape how activists’ experiences are being understood. A systematic search of five databases, and attendance to quality and conceptual saturation, led to 12 papers being included in the thematic synthesis. Three superordinate themes were generated that highlighted different positions people may take when understanding burnout: in viewing burnout as a personal failure, as a result of the demands of activism and organisational cultures, or as resulting from disempowerment and oppression. Many of the discourses reflect individualistic and neoliberal ideologies, highlighting the need to address wider context to support activists.</p><p dir="ltr">Empirical Research Project</p><p dir="ltr">The Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) has been proposed in literature as potentially providing a non-pathologising understanding of climate distress. This study explored eight UK climate activists’ experiences of narrative development using the PTMF and their views on whether it was a helpful tool for understanding experiences of climate distress. Thirty interviews were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Four superordinate themes were developed capturing participants experiences of navigating a new framework, of generating new meanings, of the emotions that arose during narrative development (resurfacing, not overwhelming), and finally the relational nature of narrative construction. The findings indicate the importance of a non-pathologising position towards climate distress and that the PTMF could be a helpful tool for climate activists. It is important that the Framework is not imposed upon people, and that choice is considered in how, and if, people choose to engage with the PTMF.</p>