After having sat back and enjoyed reading about so many of you, I've
decided to jump on the introduction band wagon:
My name is Roxanne Lalonde and I am doing doctoral research at the
University of Alberta into the spiritual foundations of environmental
ethics. Although I am based in the dept of geography, my work is very
multidisciplinary with committee members from anthropology, native
studies, philosophy, and religious studies. Unlike many of those
who've spoken so far, I explicitly include the spiritual elements
of environmental ethics and to that end have found enlightening the
work of Henryk Skolimowski, some expressions of deep ecology,
bioregionalism, ecofeminism, and recent contributions from process
theology and spiritual ecology.
For those interested in very readable, diverse expressions of
ecofeminism, I would recommend two anthologies: "Reweaving the World"
and "Healing the Wounds." I believe one of these has already been
mentioned. I have also found the writings of Ariel Salleh and Ynestra
King useful. A less polemical discussion of many aspects of
environmental philosophy (including different aspects of ecofeminism)
is Carolyn Merchant's "Radical Ecology" (I think that's the title),
released in 1992. For those of you who don't know, Merchant wrote the
first major ecofeminist analysis of the history of Western thought
back in 1980. Although it is very dense, it is also verrrry thorough
and I would recommend at least a skim of it for newcomers to
ecofeminist thinking. It's called "The Death of Nature." I would
also reinforce previous recommendations to peruse some of the
environmental journals, especially "Environmental Ethics," which has
published numerous articles expressing many diverse approaches to
ecofeminist thought. I have also found the work of Riane Eisler
(specifically "The Chalice and the Blade") quite enlightening. I
haven't yet read her follow-up to Chalice. I'd be interested in
hearing others' thoughts on it.
It appears that many of you subscribe to more politically
informed visions of ecofeminism and environmentalism than do I, but
if there is anyone else interested in the spiritual aspects of
all this stuff, I'd certainly be interested to hear from you either on
this network or privately. Best wishes to all of you in your work.
I believe that all of us who are working in these related fields,
regardless of our political or spiritual orientation, are oriented
toward similar goals: i.e., the transformation of society into a more
just, harmonious, and peaceful civilization that enables all peoples
to live sustainably on our Earth.
Best regards,
Roxanne
