God meets Gaia in Austin, Texas: A case study of environmentalism as implicit religion

Most research on the relationship between religion and environmentalism has been concerned with the effects of formal religious participation on individual ecological attitudes. This case study examines another fascinating aspect of the religion-ecology connection by revealing the implicitly religious character of grassroots environmentalism. Drawing on insights from Mircea Eliade's theory of sacred space, we call attention to a series of striking similarities between classical modes of religious experience on the one hand, and the sacralization of a prized natural resource located in Austin, Texas on the other Using interview data collected from forty-five environmentalists and ecologically-minded individuals in Austin, we argue that this city's most prominent natural resource (Barton Springs) is construed by these individuals in terms that can be interpreted as (1) nodal space that provides individuals with access to ultimate reality, (2) integrative space which binds them to the local Austin community, and (3) demarcative space that furnishes Austin with a distinctive character in opposition to surrounding locales. We conclude by offering suggestions for future research and by delineating the implications of our findings.