Rhythmanalysis in times of climate catastrophe

Dialogues between environmental education and adult education

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3384/rela.2000-7426.6056

Keywords:

adult education, catastrophes, crisis, environmental education, rhythmanalysis

Abstract

This article explores the analytical and pedagogical potential of rhythmanalysis for interpreting contemporary socio-environmental crisis. Drawing primarily on Henri Lefebvre’s conception of rhythmanalysis, the study examines how systemic acceleration, work precarisation, educational disruption, and climate catastrophes can be understood as expressions of broader arrhythmic conditions characteristic of late modernity. Focusing on the Brazilian context, including the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2024 floods in Rio Grande do Sul, the article highlights temporal asymmetries between rapid destruction and slow processes of reconstruction. By placing rhythmanalysis in dialogue with environmental education and adult education, it argues that education can cultivate critical rhythmic awareness capable of rendering crisis intelligible and fostering more just and sustainable forms of coexistence. Rather than proposing a closed model, the article advances a reflective approximation between these fields.

Author Biographies

Raizza da Costa Lopes, Federal University of Rio Grande

Raizza da Costa Lopes is a PhD student in Environmental Education at the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), also holding a master's degree. Holds two degrees in Biological Sciences and a degree in Portuguese and French Languages. Research focuses on the socio-anthropological interface of education and environment, particularly coastal communities, family farming, socio-environmental conflicts, and contemporary issues of rhythms, daily life, acceleration, and catastrophes.

Samuel Lopes Pinheiro, Federal University of Rio Grande

Samuel Lopes Pinheiro is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Environmental Education at the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), Brazil and ata Catholic University of West in Angers, France, funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). He holds a PhD in Environmental Education (FURG, with a doctoral internship at Sorbonne/UTC, Paris), a Master’s degree in Environmental Education, and degrees in Languages and Administration. His research focuses on the foundations of Environmental Education, the Anthropocene, rhythmanalysis, and transdisciplinarity, with special interest in issues of environmental justice. He is a member of the Centre International de Recherches et Études Transdisciplinaires (CIRET, Paris) and co-editor of the Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene (Springer).

Carlos Roberto da Silva Machado, Federal University of Rio Grande

Carlos Roberto da Silva Machado is a Full professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), teaching Public Education Policies and Environmental Education, and coordinated the Environmental Education Graduate Program (PPGEA) from 2015 to 2017. Research focuses on urban and environmental conflicts, socio-environmental justice, and the social production of space, influenced by Henri Lefebvre and Karl Marx. Coordinates the Observatory of Urban and Environmental Conflicts, promotes outreach through media and events, and maintains international collaborations with researchers from Portugal, Cuba, and Uruguay. Completed postdoctoral studies in Brazil, Uruguay, and Portugal, and serves as editor and reviewer for multiple academic journals.

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Published

2026-06-06

How to Cite

da Costa Lopes, R., Lopes Pinheiro, S., & da Silva Machado, C. R. (2026). Rhythmanalysis in times of climate catastrophe: Dialogues between environmental education and adult education. European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 17(2), 165–177. https://doi.org/10.3384/rela.2000-7426.6056

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 2 (2026): Rhythms, spaces, and times of transitional processes in adult education

Section

Thematic Paper

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Copyright (c) 2026 Raizza da Costa Lopes, Samuel Lopes Pinheiro, Carlos Roberto da Silva Machado

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