Wrestling with Wickedness

Abstract

I question the formulation of complex problems as “wicked,” brainstorming other, more fruitful alternatives to this terminology. Such problems are typically contrasted with “tame” problems; the literature charges that one should not treat a problem as “tame” when it is “wicked.” Given this, I question both the individualistic consumer approach to climate change and a typical approach from the field of religion and ecology, which may only focus on worldview transformation. Both of these are too “tame” to solve climate change. I argue that the problem of climate change should be seen as “wild.” Scholars of religion do have helpful resources to address such mammoth imbroglios, but we must nevertheless honor the problem’s wildness.