Part I offers a brief description of trends that are widely considered unsustainable, and then relates them to analyses of the religious and spiritual dimensions of social movements related to correcting these trends. The academic background for the ethnographic portion of the study is explained, including some of the intellectual tributaries that influenced the method utilized. In addition, some of the common themes that emerged from the ethnography are discussed in greater detail to frame the following chapters on defining the key terms, and finding religion in social movements that are not obviously all about religion. Some of the key metaphors and tropes used to advertise sustainability in the public sphere are detailed with an eye to how these highly affective concepts are transmitted through and across cultures.

These first three chapters which comprise Part I are intended to lay the groundwork for the historical and ethnographic work that follows. They also, however, offer some novel contributions. Specifically, a new definition of sustainability, which highlights its religious dimensions and the ways in which it is inextricably tied to broader cultural trends, is offered. The definition of religion utilized in this study, while drawing on earlier scholars, extends their analyses to paint a picture of the ways in which rich and multifaceted terms such as sustainability and religion can be a sort of productive social therapy. Finally, the theoretical approach detailed in Chapter 3 also draws on existing scholarship, but offers a robust portrait of the individual nested within several communities of accountability.