Mary and everyone else,
Yes I agree with you comments regarding both the possibility and the
desirability of multiculturalism, that just as in ecosystems, divertsity is
all important. Part of my comments were motivated by as sense that a
bioregional community is self-governing, in the sense of self-determining
its common life, *without* recourse to state institutions (laws, rules,
formal institutions of the state, police, other coercive mechanisms)
precisely because of the *quality* of the relations that exist amongst
memebers of a small community. The bottom line is that it seems a shared
sense of community, a commitment to and endorsement of the communuity's
traditions, way of life, values, is what makes recourse to external, formal
insitutions unnecessary to regulate the common life of the community. But
the question is how strong must this shared sense of community be in order
that we have the quality of relations between members so that problems and
conflicts can be resolved, dealt with, without state (or state-like )
institutions? The importance of somthing like the state is that it can
embody/express the bottom-line normative agreement/vlaues that everyone (or
at least a substantial majority) regardless of personal/group identity can
endorse. Thus it might be that your personal experience in the South and
the multicultural practices/relations you describe are to some extend
premissed on a shared commitment of all members to a set of vlaues/cultural
identity that finds its final expression at a higher level than that of the
community, namely a shared idenity as American citizens, with a common
history, norms, institutional expressions etc. Not that I'm saying this
identity is 'imposed' from without the community, but that the values of the
multicultrual community are in part, derived from and congruent with, a set
of vlaues/idenity which is not located entorely in the community. I'm not
putting this very well, but my intuition is that bioregionalism can deal
with the issue of 'difference', 'otherness' by contextualising its sense of
'community' within another larger sense of community which transcends it
(and I don't necessarily think that the naiton-state is often the most
appropriate embodiment of this larger political/cultural sense of
community). Or to put it anbother way: multiculturalism within small
communities depends in part on the operation and effectiveness of
trans-community norms, values, identities.
Another thought: perhasps what we can say bioregionalism is about is the
ecological-economic conditions for communal life, that its not really a
political arghument for decentrlaisation along thelines of traditional
anarchist (anti-state) thought. maybew the best way to view bioregionlaism
is as an argument that for ecological and economic reasons it is simply more
rational to economically (and thus ecologically) decentralise while
permitting *some* (this of course the moot issue) degree of political
centrlaisation, perhaps along the lines of federalism or better still
confederalism. Just a thought.
Go n-eiri an t-adh go leor
(Irish saying: rough translation: 'May luck rise with you all' i.e. good
luck to everyone!)
John Barry
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Jul 16 14:42:46 1995
id <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Mon, 17 Jul 1995 08:48:03 +1200
; 17 Jul 95 08:43:17 +1200
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 1995 08:42:50 +1200
From: "STEFANIE S. RIXECKER" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Job Announcement/Fwd
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Organization: Lincoln University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Please circulate:
STAFF BIOLOGIST OPENING AT HAWK MOUNTAIN SANCTUARY,
Kempton, Pennsylvania, 1 January 1996
STAFF BIOLOGIST opening at a science-based conservation
organization dedicated to fostering the conservation of birds of prey
and Central Appalachian ecosystems. The successful applicant will
work under the supervision of the Director of Research. Principal
tasks include data management and analysis. Additional tasks include
library and field research, and the dissemination of research results.
Applicants should have (1) an MS in a biological discipline, (2) course
work and an expressed interest in the management and statistical
analysis of large datasets, (3) analytical and programming skills, and
(4) a familiarity with SAS and Paradox software. Entry-level, one year
position, with possibility of renewal for a second and third year. Send
letter of interest, resume, and three letters in support of the
application to: Keith L. Bildstein, Director of Research, Hawk Mountain
Sanctuary, RR 2 Box 191, Kempton, PA 19529. Starting date of 1
January 1996. Applications will be reviewed until the position is
filled.
