EVER NOTICE HOW ALL THE MAJOR DEEP ECOLOGY WRITERS ARE MALE?
H
---Helga Hoffmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Hello,
> I have been invited to New Brunswick to give a workshop on
> deep ecology to the Youth Action Group of the NB Environmental
> Network (March 19-21), and for the occasion, I made up the
> annotated bibliography below. I thought it might be of general
> interest to others. Anyone on this list can feel free to use it as
> they see fit and in whatever modified form may be appropriate to
> their personal circumstances.
>
> David Orton
>
> * * * * * * * * * * *
>
> SELECTED DEEP ECOLOGY AND OTHER READINGS
>
> A note: There are many different personal paths to deep
> ecology awareness. That is, different paths to a
> fundamental shift from human-centered to ecocentric
> consciousness, in the way we relate to the Earth and the
> natural world around us. Many of these paths have little to
> do with reading books. Deep ecology provides the
> philosophical base for the radical ecocentric Earth First
> environmental movement. Studying this philosophy of deep
> ecology, deepens activist awareness. On my own personal
> journey, the following books have been important. They are
> listed below for those who want some readings in deep
> ecology. There are other deep ecology and related books,
> (for example women authors like Delores Lachapelle and
> Robyn Eckersley) but this list may get you started on
> your own journey.
> - David Orton
>
>
> Arne Naess, "The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology
> Movement. A Summary", _Inquiry_ 16 (1973) 95-100. This is the
> original, now famous article by Arne Naess, the Norwegian
> philosopher and founder of the deep ecology movement, which
> first made the now familiar distinctions between "shallow"
> and "deep" ecology. This article, although of historical
> interest, has been superseded by the eight-point _Deep
> Ecology Platform_ worked out by Naess and the U.S. deep
> ecologist George Sessions in 1984. It is this widely
> accepted eight-point Platform, which now serves as a common
> basis of unity and guide to action within the deep ecology
> movement.
>
> Arne Naess, _Ecology, community and lifestyle_, 1989,
> Cambridge University Press. Reading this book is the best
> single introduction to the depth, complexity (and obscurity)
> of the deep ecology of Arne Naess.
>
> George Sessions, editor, _Deep Ecology For The 21st Century:
> Readings On The Philosophy And Practice Of The New
> Environmentalism_, 1995, Shambhala Publications. Sessions
> has played an important role in introducing and popularizing
> deep ecology in North America. This book is divided into six
> sections, with excellent introductions by Sessions to each
> of the sections, which themselves contain essays by
> representative thinkers within or having influence on the
> deep ecology movement.
>
> Andrew McLaughlin, _Regarding Nature: Industrialism,
> Environmentalism, and Deep Ecology_, 1993, State University
> of New York Press. A very important book, which combines a
> deep ecology, bioregional and social justice perspective,
> in its clarifying analysis of the roots and destructiveness
> of industrial society. This book in many ways has provided
> support for the theoretical tendency within deep ecology
> known as "left biocentrism". McLaughlin has also written on
> what he calls the "heart of deep ecology", the unifying
> eight-point Deep Ecology Platform.
>
> Richard Sylvan and David Bennett, _The Greening of Ethics:
> >From Human Chauvinism to Deep-Green Theory_, 1994, The White
> Horse Press. Sylvan, an Australian forest activist and
> academic philosopher who died in 1996, was the "bad boy"
> of the deep ecology movement and also a personal friend.
> Sylvan was the sophisticated critic of intellectual
> fuzziness of writings within the deep ecology movement. He
> outlined these views in the 1985 _A Critique Of Deep
> Ecology_, published by The Australian National University.
> The same Critique was published in two parts, in the
> journal _Radical Philosophy_ 1986, 40 and 41: 2-12 and
> 1-22. Sylvan, with his "deep green" theory has been an
> important influence on left biocentrism.
>
> Rudolf Bahro, was a German green philosopher and activist
> who died of cancer in 1997. His influence is enormous,
> particularly from a European perspective. He explored with a
> ruthless honesty the real contradictions for a left wing
> person of moving to a deep ecological consciousness. He saw
> the necessity for a personal and societal spiritual change
> if Earth destruction was to end. Industrialized countries
> like Germany, the United States and Canada, needed to reduce
> their impact upon the Earth to one-tenth of what it was. For
> Bahro, "The earth can belong to no one" and "The ecological
> crisis will bring about the end of capitalism." There are
> five books available in English. Start with _From Red to
> Green_, 1984 and then move on to his difficult but inspiring
> final work, _Avoiding Social and Ecological Disaster: The
> Politics of World Transformation_, subtitled "An Inquiry into
> the Foundations of Spiritual and Ecological Politics", 1994,
> Gateway Books, Bath, England. Bahro, in a Dec. 1995 letter,
> declared his agreement "with the essential points" of left
> biocentrism.
>
> John Livingston, _The Fallacy of Wildlife Conservation_,
> 1981, McClelland and Stewart Limited; and _Rogue Primate:
> An exploration of human domestication_, 1994, Key Porter
> Books. A powerful Canadian eco-philosopher and naturalist
> who David Suzuki has described as his mentor. For
> Livingston, wildlife has to be valued and defended for its
> own sake. Giving rational arguments for wildlife
> preservation is to accept the logic of industrial society.
> In the latest book, Livingston says that humans are the only
> animal that have entered domestication on their own.
> So-called resource conservation, "is a wholly proprietary,
> human-chauvinist concept."
>
> Saral Sarkar, _Eco-Socialism or Eco-Capitalism? A Critical
> Analysis of Humanity's Fundamental Choices_, 1999, Zed Books,
> London, England. While not a deep ecology perspective, this
> is an important book for those concerned about whether or
> not it is possible to fuse the radical ecology and the
> socialist movements. Sarkar believes it is possible,
> providing socialism is prepared to redefine itself and learn
> "the ecological lesson" from the radical ecology movement.
> This book gives an ecological critique of all forms of
> socialism, a critique of green politics and an insightful
> examination of traditional cultures and what can be learnt
> from them. Sarkar was born in India and has lived in Germany
> for many years. He is the author of the historical work,
> _Green-Alternative Politics in West Germany_ (2 vols), 1993
> and 1994, United Nations University Press.
>
>
> OTHER IMPORTANT BOOKS
>
> Clive Ponting, _A Green History Of The World: The
> Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations_, 1991,
> Sinclair-Stevenson Limited, England. It looks at world
> history, e.g. what happened to Easter Island, from an
> environmental perspective. A fundamental book to give a sense
> of ecological and historical place. However, this book will
> not come out and condemn industrial civilization and speak of
> an alternative.
>
> Aldo Leopold, _A Sand County Almanac: With Essays on
> Conservation from Round River_, first published in 1949,
> Sierra Club/Ballantine Book. Leopold illustrates in his life
> and writings, the transition from U.S. forester and game
> manager to environmental philosopher. His thinking, writings,
> and metaphors e.g. the Land Ethic, "thinking like a mountain",
> "round river rendezvous", "green fire", have become part of
> the consciousness of radical environmentalism in North
> America. Leopold's environmental ethics has become
> influential: "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the
> integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It
> is wrong when it tends otherwise."
>
> Calvin Luther Martin, _Keepers Of The Game: Indian-Animal
> Relationships and the Fur Trade_, 1978, University of
> California Press; and _In the Spirit of the Earth:
> Rethinking History and Time_, 1992, The Johns Hopkins
> University Press. These two important books aid in
> realistically understanding aboriginal land ethics, past
> and present. They also give insight, I believe, into
> understanding a potential relationship between an indigenous
> animism and deep ecology.
>
> Olive Patricia Dickason, _Canada's First Nations: A History
> of Founding Peoples from Earliest Times_, 1992, McClelland
> & Stewart Inc. This is a progressive and detailed source of
> information from Metis historian Dickason, on the aboriginal
> peoples living in Canada.
>
> Bill Devall, editor, _Clearcut: The Tragedy Of Industrial
> Forestry_, 1993, Sierra Club Books/Earth Island Press. The
> book for ecocentric forestry activists. It shows the totally
> destructive ecological impact of capitalist industrial
> forestry in Canada and the United States, that is
> clearcutting. It has illustrations from each province in
> Canada and each state in the U.S. This book also has
> examples of an alternative forestry, influenced by deep
> ecology and a wholistic ecological world view.
>
> Edward Abbey, _The Monkey Wrench Gang_, 1975. A
> politically incorrect novel about monkey wrenching in the
> U.S. South West desert country, by four people who band
> together in the tradition of the Luddites. This novel has
> inspired many to activism. As Abbey says in this book
> through the character Doc Sarvis: "Let our practice form our
> doctrine, thus assuring precise theoretical coherence."
>
> _Earth First! Journal_ It is published 8 times a year. This
> is the activists' newspaper in the U.S. and Canada for the
> "no-compromise environmental movement". Every ecocentric
> radical activist in Canada and the States should read this
> on a regular basis. Address: POB 1415, Eugene, Oregon 97440,
> U.S.A. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
> LEFT BIOCENTRISM
>
> This is a left focus or theoretical tendency within the deep
> ecology movement. There is a ten-point _Left Biocentrism
> Primer_ which presents a summary of the position. There is
> also an internet discussion group called "left bio" which
> supports the Primer and whose members take part in
> theoretical and practical discussions.
>
> For a consideration of some ideas important to left
> biocentrism, see in particular the following two Green Web
> Bulletins:
>
> #63 "My Path to Left Biocentrism: Part I - The Theory," by
> D. Orton, April 1998. This Bulletin is a theoretical
> introduction to the left biocentric tendency within the deep
> ecology movement. Part I includes the important thinkers for
> a left biocentric synthesis, and discusses the continuities
> and discontinuities of left biocentrism with deep ecology.
> It also includes the ten- point "Left Biocentrism Primer."
>
> #64 "My Path to Left Biocentrism: Part II - Actual Issues,"
> by D. Orton, April 1998. This Bulletin shows the application
> of left biocentrism to actual issues: forests and forestry,
> aboriginal issues, relationship to the Left, green movement
> and party, protected areas and wildlife, and sustainable
> development. This Bulletin shows, in the context of the
> listed issues, what is distinctive about left biocentrism
> compared to deep ecology.
>
> For more information about Left Biocentrism or anything in
> this bibliography, contact the Green Web:
> R.R.#3, Saltsprings, Nova Scotia, Canada, BOK 1PO
> E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Home Page: http://fox.nstn.ca/~greenweb/gw-hp.htm
>
> March, 1999
>
>
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