James K. Hoffmeier
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195155464
- eISBN:
- 9780199835652
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/0195155467.001.000
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
For the past two decades, the nature of ancient Israel’s origins has been debated heatedly. Much of this debate has concentrated on part of the book of Exodus and the book of Joshua. Little ...
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For the past two decades, the nature of ancient Israel’s origins has been debated heatedly. Much of this debate has concentrated on part of the book of Exodus and the book of Joshua. Little attention, however, has been given to the wilderness tradition, for example, the episodes set in Sinai (Exodus 16 through Numbers 20). The current study investigates the importance of the wilderness tradition to ancient Israel’s religious and social formation. The location of Mt. Sinai, Israel’s law or covenant, and the possible Egyptian origins of Israel’s desert sanctuary, the tabernacle, are explored in the light of Egyptian archaeological materials. The book further argues that the Torah’s narratives preserve accurate memories of the wilderness period as evidenced by the accuracy of geographical place names in Egypt and Sinai, and by the use of many personal names and technical terms that are of Egyptian etymology. These factors lend credibility to the authenticity sojourn in Egypt and the exodus traditions, rather than viewing them as purely ideological or literary fictions dating to 1,000 years after the events.Less
For the past two decades, the nature of ancient Israel’s origins has been debated heatedly. Much of this debate has concentrated on part of the book of Exodus and the book of Joshua. Little attention, however, has been given to the wilderness tradition, for example, the episodes set in Sinai (Exodus 16 through Numbers 20). The current study investigates the importance of the wilderness tradition to ancient Israel’s religious and social formation. The location of Mt. Sinai, Israel’s law or covenant, and the possible Egyptian origins of Israel’s desert sanctuary, the tabernacle, are explored in the light of Egyptian archaeological materials. The book further argues that the Torah’s narratives preserve accurate memories of the wilderness period as evidenced by the accuracy of geographical place names in Egypt and Sinai, and by the use of many personal names and technical terms that are of Egyptian etymology. These factors lend credibility to the authenticity sojourn in Egypt and the exodus traditions, rather than viewing them as purely ideological or literary fictions dating to 1,000 years after the events.
Mark David Spence
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195142433
- eISBN:
- 9780199848812
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195142433.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This book examines the ideal of wilderness preservation in the United States from the antebellum era to the first half of the twentieth century, showing how the early conception of the wilderness as ...
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This book examines the ideal of wilderness preservation in the United States from the antebellum era to the first half of the twentieth century, showing how the early conception of the wilderness as the place where Indians lived (or should live) gave way to the idealization of uninhabited wilderness. It focuses on specific policies of Indian removal developed at Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Glacier national parks from the early 1870s to the 1930s.Less
This book examines the ideal of wilderness preservation in the United States from the antebellum era to the first half of the twentieth century, showing how the early conception of the wilderness as the place where Indians lived (or should live) gave way to the idealization of uninhabited wilderness. It focuses on specific policies of Indian removal developed at Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Glacier national parks from the early 1870s to the 1930s.
Pamela C. Ronald and Raoul W. Adamchak
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195301755
- eISBN:
- 9780199867196
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195301755.003.0008
- Subject:
- Biology, Plant Sciences and Forestry
As the world's population grows (it is expected to increase from the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion by 2050), fewer and fewer wild places remain. Today vast areas of Earth resemble the ...
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As the world's population grows (it is expected to increase from the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion by 2050), fewer and fewer wild places remain. Today vast areas of Earth resemble the agricultural Central Valley, where a few domesticated species dominate. As the demand for food increases, will it be possible to minimize the impact of food production on what remains of wild nature?Less
As the world's population grows (it is expected to increase from the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion by 2050), fewer and fewer wild places remain. Today vast areas of Earth resemble the agricultural Central Valley, where a few domesticated species dominate. As the demand for food increases, will it be possible to minimize the impact of food production on what remains of wild nature?
Catharine Cookson
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195129441
- eISBN:
- 9780199834105
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019512944X.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Often, competing worldviews or “frameworks” (as described by political philosopher Charles Taylor) are at the heart of free exercise conflicts. This chapter uses the trope or myth of “wilderness” as ...
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Often, competing worldviews or “frameworks” (as described by political philosopher Charles Taylor) are at the heart of free exercise conflicts. This chapter uses the trope or myth of “wilderness” as a tool for understanding how the same concept can be interpreted in contrary ways: wilderness as a holy place of purification, as an empty place to cultivate and make bloom, or as a dangerous, licentious, uncontrolled place where anarchy rules. The myth enables us to understand how people can approach the same activity/phenomenon with such drastically different unexamined assumptions, and how there may be different ramifications, meanings, and consequences depending upon the framework in which the religious behavior is initially and intuitively viewed.Less
Often, competing worldviews or “frameworks” (as described by political philosopher Charles Taylor) are at the heart of free exercise conflicts. This chapter uses the trope or myth of “wilderness” as a tool for understanding how the same concept can be interpreted in contrary ways: wilderness as a holy place of purification, as an empty place to cultivate and make bloom, or as a dangerous, licentious, uncontrolled place where anarchy rules. The myth enables us to understand how people can approach the same activity/phenomenon with such drastically different unexamined assumptions, and how there may be different ramifications, meanings, and consequences depending upon the framework in which the religious behavior is initially and intuitively viewed.
William P. Brown
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199730797
- eISBN:
- 9780199777075
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730797.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Theology
God’s answer to Job is the focus of this chapter. God presents a panoramic sweep of creation that comprises the cosmic, the meteorological, and the biological. Its primary focus, however, is on the ...
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God’s answer to Job is the focus of this chapter. God presents a panoramic sweep of creation that comprises the cosmic, the meteorological, and the biological. Its primary focus, however, is on the diversity and vitality of animal life in the wilderness. What was considered marginal from Job’s perspective now takes center stage in God’s answer, which reflects God’s biophilia. While de-centered, Job is shown to be integrally related to the wild. He was made by God “with” Behemoth, suggesting Job is linked with all creatures, including monstrous Leviathan. Biology, too, discerns a link that connects all life on Earth, a genetic link (DNA). God’s answer, moreover, takes Job on a grand tour of taxonomy, not unlike Charles Darwin’s around-the-world voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle early in his career. Read in the light of evolution, Job presents a powerful testimony to biodiversity and affirms the intrinsic value of all life.Less
God’s answer to Job is the focus of this chapter. God presents a panoramic sweep of creation that comprises the cosmic, the meteorological, and the biological. Its primary focus, however, is on the diversity and vitality of animal life in the wilderness. What was considered marginal from Job’s perspective now takes center stage in God’s answer, which reflects God’s biophilia. While de-centered, Job is shown to be integrally related to the wild. He was made by God “with” Behemoth, suggesting Job is linked with all creatures, including monstrous Leviathan. Biology, too, discerns a link that connects all life on Earth, a genetic link (DNA). God’s answer, moreover, takes Job on a grand tour of taxonomy, not unlike Charles Darwin’s around-the-world voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle early in his career. Read in the light of evolution, Job presents a powerful testimony to biodiversity and affirms the intrinsic value of all life.
Sadiah Qureshi
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265413
- eISBN:
- 9780191760464
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265413.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
Early modern writers had long noted the apparent decimation of some indigenous peoples. However, such discussions took on a new and urgent form in the nineteenth century as a new scientific ...
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Early modern writers had long noted the apparent decimation of some indigenous peoples. However, such discussions took on a new and urgent form in the nineteenth century as a new scientific understanding of extinction as an endemic natural process was established. Many scholars have explored the notion of dying races in histories of colonial contact, modern land rights, or genocide; yet most have overlooked the new epistemological status of extinction as a mechanism for explaining natural change. This chapter explores how this scientific shift became combined with notions of wilderness in the American context to rationalize policies of Indian dispossession, forced removal from their traditional homelands, and the establishment of the world's first national parks. In doing so, it highlights fruitful directions for future histories of heritage, endangerment, and conservation.Less
Early modern writers had long noted the apparent decimation of some indigenous peoples. However, such discussions took on a new and urgent form in the nineteenth century as a new scientific understanding of extinction as an endemic natural process was established. Many scholars have explored the notion of dying races in histories of colonial contact, modern land rights, or genocide; yet most have overlooked the new epistemological status of extinction as a mechanism for explaining natural change. This chapter explores how this scientific shift became combined with notions of wilderness in the American context to rationalize policies of Indian dispossession, forced removal from their traditional homelands, and the establishment of the world's first national parks. In doing so, it highlights fruitful directions for future histories of heritage, endangerment, and conservation.
Susan K. Jacobson, Mallory D. McDuff, and Martha C. Monroe
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198567714
- eISBN:
- 9780191718311
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198567714.003.0006
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
Making conservation come alive can mean discovering the natural world around us through a neighborhood scavenger hunt or researching the perspectives of an industry group for a role-play. Many of the ...
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Making conservation come alive can mean discovering the natural world around us through a neighborhood scavenger hunt or researching the perspectives of an industry group for a role-play. Many of the techniques in this chapter emphasize the experiential approach to conservation education, such as hands-on activities, field trips, and wilderness skills. The aim of these techniques is to immerse the participants in exploring the outdoors or an environmental concept. Other techniques bring conservation alive through a minds-on approach, such as storytelling, games, case studies, role-playing, and contests. Planning these techniques involves both research and logistics. This chapter provides helpful hints for implementation, including tips for engaging an audience in a story or developing a role-play. Every technique engages the audience in learning through direct experience.Less
Making conservation come alive can mean discovering the natural world around us through a neighborhood scavenger hunt or researching the perspectives of an industry group for a role-play. Many of the techniques in this chapter emphasize the experiential approach to conservation education, such as hands-on activities, field trips, and wilderness skills. The aim of these techniques is to immerse the participants in exploring the outdoors or an environmental concept. Other techniques bring conservation alive through a minds-on approach, such as storytelling, games, case studies, role-playing, and contests. Planning these techniques involves both research and logistics. This chapter provides helpful hints for implementation, including tips for engaging an audience in a story or developing a role-play. Every technique engages the audience in learning through direct experience.
James K. Hoffmeier
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195155464
- eISBN:
- 9780199835652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/0195155467.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The book concludes with discussing some implications of the wilderness tradition for the origins of Israel debate. The indigenous origins of Israel in and from the Canaanites is rejected because of ...
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The book concludes with discussing some implications of the wilderness tradition for the origins of Israel debate. The indigenous origins of Israel in and from the Canaanites is rejected because of the dominance of the wilderness tradition throughout the Bible, which cannot be simply explained away. Because of central institutions that originate in Sinai such as the tabernacle, pork prohibition, the aniconic nature of Israel’s religion and the name of Yahweh himself. The much-debated scene from the reliefs of Pharoah Merneptah at Karnak temple—believed to show Israelites—is discussed in detail. The theory of Israel’s association with the Shasu-beduoin as a source for the origin of the divined name, YHWH is studied and dismissed. In the end, it is argued that when the wilderness tradition is examined in the light of various ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian materials, a good case can be made for the authenticity of the traditions in the Torah.Less
The book concludes with discussing some implications of the wilderness tradition for the origins of Israel debate. The indigenous origins of Israel in and from the Canaanites is rejected because of the dominance of the wilderness tradition throughout the Bible, which cannot be simply explained away. Because of central institutions that originate in Sinai such as the tabernacle, pork prohibition, the aniconic nature of Israel’s religion and the name of Yahweh himself. The much-debated scene from the reliefs of Pharoah Merneptah at Karnak temple—believed to show Israelites—is discussed in detail. The theory of Israel’s association with the Shasu-beduoin as a source for the origin of the divined name, YHWH is studied and dismissed. In the end, it is argued that when the wilderness tradition is examined in the light of various ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian materials, a good case can be made for the authenticity of the traditions in the Torah.
Daisy L. Machado
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195152234
- eISBN:
- 9780199834426
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195152239.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis became a significant force in shaping the national identity of the U.S. The ideologies incorporated into Turner's frontier thesis were not only meant to ...
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Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis became a significant force in shaping the national identity of the U.S. The ideologies incorporated into Turner's frontier thesis were not only meant to provide a historical interpretation of how the U.S. came into being but also satisfied the national need for a “usable past.” This frontier thesis was able to transmit a series of symbols that became imbedded in the nation's self‐perception and self‐understanding: Virgin land, wilderness, land and democracy, Manifest Destiny, chosen race. Race must be understood as an important piece of this developing national identity because the idea of “purity” of race was used as a rationalization to colonize, exclude, devalue, and even exterminate the native borderlands people.Less
Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis became a significant force in shaping the national identity of the U.S. The ideologies incorporated into Turner's frontier thesis were not only meant to provide a historical interpretation of how the U.S. came into being but also satisfied the national need for a “usable past.” This frontier thesis was able to transmit a series of symbols that became imbedded in the nation's self‐perception and self‐understanding: Virgin land, wilderness, land and democracy, Manifest Destiny, chosen race. Race must be understood as an important piece of this developing national identity because the idea of “purity” of race was used as a rationalization to colonize, exclude, devalue, and even exterminate the native borderlands people.
James K. Hoffmeier
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195155464
- eISBN:
- 9780199835652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/0195155467.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Central to the Torah is the wilderness tradition, the forty years that Israel spent in Sinai after the exodus from Egypt and before entering the land of Canaan. The book begins by examining the ...
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Central to the Torah is the wilderness tradition, the forty years that Israel spent in Sinai after the exodus from Egypt and before entering the land of Canaan. The book begins by examining the portrayal of the wilderness period in the Torah and then shows that the same perspective is presented throughout the Hebrew Bible, especially in the Prophets and the Psalms. The origins of Israel debate of the past two decades are introduced, as well as how biblical scholars and historians have viewed the narratives set in Sinai. A discussion of the hermeneutical approach used in this study, the contextual approach, is presented.Less
Central to the Torah is the wilderness tradition, the forty years that Israel spent in Sinai after the exodus from Egypt and before entering the land of Canaan. The book begins by examining the portrayal of the wilderness period in the Torah and then shows that the same perspective is presented throughout the Hebrew Bible, especially in the Prophets and the Psalms. The origins of Israel debate of the past two decades are introduced, as well as how biblical scholars and historians have viewed the narratives set in Sinai. A discussion of the hermeneutical approach used in this study, the contextual approach, is presented.
James K. Hoffmeier
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195155464
- eISBN:
- 9780199835652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/0195155467.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The 19th century Religionswissenschaft, “the scientific” or the comparative study of religion, approach is examined, as well as how more recent books on the religion of ancient Israel view the ...
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The 19th century Religionswissenschaft, “the scientific” or the comparative study of religion, approach is examined, as well as how more recent books on the religion of ancient Israel view the wilderness traditions. Surprisingly, most studies of the religion of Israel in recent years have completely failed to recognize the formative nature of the wilderness period to ancient Israel’s religion. Recognizing the limitations of modern (enlightenment positivism) and post-modern approaches to the Bible and ancient Israel’s religion, an alternative method, the phenomenological approach, is proffered.Less
The 19th century Religionswissenschaft, “the scientific” or the comparative study of religion, approach is examined, as well as how more recent books on the religion of ancient Israel view the wilderness traditions. Surprisingly, most studies of the religion of Israel in recent years have completely failed to recognize the formative nature of the wilderness period to ancient Israel’s religion. Recognizing the limitations of modern (enlightenment positivism) and post-modern approaches to the Bible and ancient Israel’s religion, an alternative method, the phenomenological approach, is proffered.
James K. Hoffmeier
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195155464
- eISBN:
- 9780199835652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/0195155467.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The religious significance of sacred mountains is treated as a way to get at the significance of the mountain of God. Since the Torah mentions both Mt. Sinai and Horeb as the mountain of God. This ...
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The religious significance of sacred mountains is treated as a way to get at the significance of the mountain of God. Since the Torah mentions both Mt. Sinai and Horeb as the mountain of God. This problem is fully investigated. The wilderness itineraries in Exodus and Numbers 33, which trace Israel’s trek from Egypt to Kadesh Barnea via Mt. Sinai, serve as the basis for trying to locate Mt. Sinai. Travel in desert terrain and distances covered in a day’s journey in ancient times provide parameters for using the itineraries to locate Mt. Sinai. Based on this information, many of the more prominent proposed locations for Mt. Sinai are investigated, including locations in Arabia (Midian), Israel and Jordan, and Egypt (Sinai). Some of the peaks considered are Gebal Helal, Har Karkom, Gebel Sin Bishr, Serabit el-Khadim, Gebel el-Lawz, Gebel Badr, Gebel Musa, Ras Safsafah, and Gebel Serbal. Those in southern Sinai make the best sense of the itineraries and environmental considerations.Less
The religious significance of sacred mountains is treated as a way to get at the significance of the mountain of God. Since the Torah mentions both Mt. Sinai and Horeb as the mountain of God. This problem is fully investigated. The wilderness itineraries in Exodus and Numbers 33, which trace Israel’s trek from Egypt to Kadesh Barnea via Mt. Sinai, serve as the basis for trying to locate Mt. Sinai. Travel in desert terrain and distances covered in a day’s journey in ancient times provide parameters for using the itineraries to locate Mt. Sinai. Based on this information, many of the more prominent proposed locations for Mt. Sinai are investigated, including locations in Arabia (Midian), Israel and Jordan, and Egypt (Sinai). Some of the peaks considered are Gebal Helal, Har Karkom, Gebel Sin Bishr, Serabit el-Khadim, Gebel el-Lawz, Gebel Badr, Gebel Musa, Ras Safsafah, and Gebel Serbal. Those in southern Sinai make the best sense of the itineraries and environmental considerations.
Mark David Spence
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195142433
- eISBN:
- 9780199848812
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195142433.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter provides a clear understanding of early preservationist thinking and better recognition of the changing condition that reshaped American ideas about wilderness and Indians at ...
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This chapter provides a clear understanding of early preservationist thinking and better recognition of the changing condition that reshaped American ideas about wilderness and Indians at mid-century. George Caitlin devoted his entire life to preserving and recording an “Indian wilderness.” His ideas about national parks somehow foreshadowed twentieth-century concerns and policies regarding wilderness preservation. To understand why Caitlin's proposal for a national park was superseded by the idealization of uninhabited landscapes in the late nineteenth century, it is important to situate it within the artistic, social, and political trends that shaped antebellum America. As Henry Brackenridge predicted, “different modes of life and habits altogether new” would transform American perceptions of the landscapes and peoples of the West. It was these new modes and habits and the policies they gendered that ultimately led to the creation of the first reservations and national parks later in the century.Less
This chapter provides a clear understanding of early preservationist thinking and better recognition of the changing condition that reshaped American ideas about wilderness and Indians at mid-century. George Caitlin devoted his entire life to preserving and recording an “Indian wilderness.” His ideas about national parks somehow foreshadowed twentieth-century concerns and policies regarding wilderness preservation. To understand why Caitlin's proposal for a national park was superseded by the idealization of uninhabited landscapes in the late nineteenth century, it is important to situate it within the artistic, social, and political trends that shaped antebellum America. As Henry Brackenridge predicted, “different modes of life and habits altogether new” would transform American perceptions of the landscapes and peoples of the West. It was these new modes and habits and the policies they gendered that ultimately led to the creation of the first reservations and national parks later in the century.
Dale F. Lott
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520233386
- eISBN:
- 9780520930742
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520233386.003.0023
- Subject:
- Biology, Natural History and Field Guides
Today, the hide hunt and the hide hunters seem utterly foreign to most of us. The hide hunters have achieved the anomalous status of despised frontiersmen. Public policy toward wilderness and wild ...
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Today, the hide hunt and the hide hunters seem utterly foreign to most of us. The hide hunters have achieved the anomalous status of despised frontiersmen. Public policy toward wilderness and wild things implements attitudes — private values. The value we put on animals feels so natural and right and inevitable that it's a shock when we first learn that others feel differently about an animal's death. There is no more dramatic illustration of such differences and their consequences than the public policy debate in the 1870s about the fate of the bison. At one level it was about consequences: impact on Native Americans, impact on the bison as a natural resource, proposed legislation. But the debate drew on, and illustrated, basic attitudes toward wildlife in general and bison in particular. Then as now, attitudes were mixed.Less
Today, the hide hunt and the hide hunters seem utterly foreign to most of us. The hide hunters have achieved the anomalous status of despised frontiersmen. Public policy toward wilderness and wild things implements attitudes — private values. The value we put on animals feels so natural and right and inevitable that it's a shock when we first learn that others feel differently about an animal's death. There is no more dramatic illustration of such differences and their consequences than the public policy debate in the 1870s about the fate of the bison. At one level it was about consequences: impact on Native Americans, impact on the bison as a natural resource, proposed legislation. But the debate drew on, and illustrated, basic attitudes toward wildlife in general and bison in particular. Then as now, attitudes were mixed.
Eric T. Freyfogle
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226326085
- eISBN:
- 9780226326252
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226326252.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Long-simmering environmental problems originate in human actions that alter nature in ways deemed abusive or degrading. The root causes of environmental ills are thus the forces and factors that ...
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Long-simmering environmental problems originate in human actions that alter nature in ways deemed abusive or degrading. The root causes of environmental ills are thus the forces and factors that prompt people to act as they do: to misuse nature, to remain insensitive to underlying causes and resulting harms, and to resist calls for reform. Many root causes lie within modern culture, particularly in prevailing ways of seeing and valuing nature and understanding human-nature links. Beginning from various places this book probes these root causes, seeking not just the origins of land abuse but the cultural reasons why reform efforts have largely stalled and are so deeply resisted. It draws together the core wisdom of three leading environmental voices—Aldo Leopold, Wendell Berry, and David Orr—and of Pope Francis from his encyclical, Laudate Si’. It seeks fresh cultural insights from a deeper probing of the tragedy of the commons, the controversy over wilderness as place and idea, and the institution of private property rights in nature. By steps the book links environmental ills and current impasses to key elements of modern culture, many embedded in contemporary liberal individualism, and to central social institutions (particularly the capitalist market and private property) that embody and strengthen these elements. The book issues a strong call for more communitarian understandings and values, in ecological and social realms, and for a unified conservation effort chiefly aimed not at scientific education or policy reform but at long-term cultural change.Less
Long-simmering environmental problems originate in human actions that alter nature in ways deemed abusive or degrading. The root causes of environmental ills are thus the forces and factors that prompt people to act as they do: to misuse nature, to remain insensitive to underlying causes and resulting harms, and to resist calls for reform. Many root causes lie within modern culture, particularly in prevailing ways of seeing and valuing nature and understanding human-nature links. Beginning from various places this book probes these root causes, seeking not just the origins of land abuse but the cultural reasons why reform efforts have largely stalled and are so deeply resisted. It draws together the core wisdom of three leading environmental voices—Aldo Leopold, Wendell Berry, and David Orr—and of Pope Francis from his encyclical, Laudate Si’. It seeks fresh cultural insights from a deeper probing of the tragedy of the commons, the controversy over wilderness as place and idea, and the institution of private property rights in nature. By steps the book links environmental ills and current impasses to key elements of modern culture, many embedded in contemporary liberal individualism, and to central social institutions (particularly the capitalist market and private property) that embody and strengthen these elements. The book issues a strong call for more communitarian understandings and values, in ecological and social realms, and for a unified conservation effort chiefly aimed not at scientific education or policy reform but at long-term cultural change.
Dana Phillips
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195137699
- eISBN:
- 9780199787937
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195137699.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This epilogue reviews some of the issues of most importance in this book, especially those that have been raised but not yet resolved by ecocriticism. In particular, it explores the idea not of ...
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This epilogue reviews some of the issues of most importance in this book, especially those that have been raised but not yet resolved by ecocriticism. In particular, it explores the idea not of wilderness, a central value for many American ecocritics, but of “wildness” of calculated incivility, deliberate irony, imagination, adventurousness, playfulness, and picaresque humor as celebrated by Thoreau in his essay Walking and as exemplified in A. R. Ammons’s book-length poem Garbage.Less
This epilogue reviews some of the issues of most importance in this book, especially those that have been raised but not yet resolved by ecocriticism. In particular, it explores the idea not of wilderness, a central value for many American ecocritics, but of “wildness” of calculated incivility, deliberate irony, imagination, adventurousness, playfulness, and picaresque humor as celebrated by Thoreau in his essay Walking and as exemplified in A. R. Ammons’s book-length poem Garbage.
Russell A. Mittermeier and William R. Konstant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195125788
- eISBN:
- 9780199832927
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195125789.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter describes biodiversity and its value to society. The concepts of biodiversity hotspots, major tropical Wilderness Areas, and Megadiversity Countries and Conservation International's ...
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This chapter describes biodiversity and its value to society. The concepts of biodiversity hotspots, major tropical Wilderness Areas, and Megadiversity Countries and Conservation International's method of setting priorities are also discussed.Less
This chapter describes biodiversity and its value to society. The concepts of biodiversity hotspots, major tropical Wilderness Areas, and Megadiversity Countries and Conservation International's method of setting priorities are also discussed.
Neil M. Maher
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195306019
- eISBN:
- 9780199867820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195306019.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This part of the book investigates how the Corps and its conservation work transformed local communities situated near the more than five thousand CCC camps scattered across the country. To do this, ...
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This part of the book investigates how the Corps and its conservation work transformed local communities situated near the more than five thousand CCC camps scattered across the country. To do this, Chapter Four focuses on two local communities in particular and their relationship with nearby Corps camps. In Coon Valley, Wisconsin, residents embraced both conservation and the New Deal as agricultural production rose on local farms cooperating with the Corps' soil conservation camps. Residents from a second community, located near CCC camps developing Great Smoky Mountains National Park for outdoor recreation, also welcomed Corps conservation and the New Deal but for very different reasons. In the Smokies locals supported the CCC not because it increased natural resource production, as in Coon Valley, but rather because CCC projects such as the building of hiking trails, visitor centers, and motor roads promised increased tourism to the nearby national park. While the CCC helped popularize this alternative form of conservation based outdoor recreation throughout the country, during the mid-1930s a vocal minority in each of these communities began criticizing the Corps in particular, and the New Deal by association, for being environmentally unsound. Chapter Four concludes by introducing the leaders of this critique, Aldo Leopold in Coon Valley and Robert Marshall in the Great Smokies, and suggests that this local opposition by two of the most important figures in modern environmentalism would greatly shape both the conservation movement and the New Deal during the later Great Depression period.Less
This part of the book investigates how the Corps and its conservation work transformed local communities situated near the more than five thousand CCC camps scattered across the country. To do this, Chapter Four focuses on two local communities in particular and their relationship with nearby Corps camps. In Coon Valley, Wisconsin, residents embraced both conservation and the New Deal as agricultural production rose on local farms cooperating with the Corps' soil conservation camps. Residents from a second community, located near CCC camps developing Great Smoky Mountains National Park for outdoor recreation, also welcomed Corps conservation and the New Deal but for very different reasons. In the Smokies locals supported the CCC not because it increased natural resource production, as in Coon Valley, but rather because CCC projects such as the building of hiking trails, visitor centers, and motor roads promised increased tourism to the nearby national park. While the CCC helped popularize this alternative form of conservation based outdoor recreation throughout the country, during the mid-1930s a vocal minority in each of these communities began criticizing the Corps in particular, and the New Deal by association, for being environmentally unsound. Chapter Four concludes by introducing the leaders of this critique, Aldo Leopold in Coon Valley and Robert Marshall in the Great Smokies, and suggests that this local opposition by two of the most important figures in modern environmentalism would greatly shape both the conservation movement and the New Deal during the later Great Depression period.
Neil M. Maher
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195306019
- eISBN:
- 9780199867820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195306019.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter explores how the debate over Corps conservation work, introduced as a local problem in Chapter Four, spread to the national level during the late 1930s. It begins by illustrating how ...
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This chapter explores how the debate over Corps conservation work, introduced as a local problem in Chapter Four, spread to the national level during the late 1930s. It begins by illustrating how positive media coverage during the early and mid-1930s made the CCC the New Deal's most popular program, and perhaps more importantly, synonymous with conservation. Yet Chapter Five also examines an increasingly vocal group of Americans who during the late-1930s publicly criticized Corps conservation work, and Roosevelt's New Deal, for threatening American nature. While others like Bob Marshall faulted CCC conservation projects such as the building of roads in national parks for destroying wilderness, biological scientists followed Aldo Leopold's lead by claiming that seemingly benign Corps work such as the planting of trees in national forests actually upset ecological balance. Chapter Five examines how this growing opposition to the CCC sparked a public, national debate about the role of wilderness preservation and ecological balance within the conservation movement. The chapter concludes that while the widespread popularity of the CCC helped make the conservation movement a truly grassroots phenomenon, the public debate over Corps work indicated that the very meaning of conservation was in flux during the Great Depression era.Less
This chapter explores how the debate over Corps conservation work, introduced as a local problem in Chapter Four, spread to the national level during the late 1930s. It begins by illustrating how positive media coverage during the early and mid-1930s made the CCC the New Deal's most popular program, and perhaps more importantly, synonymous with conservation. Yet Chapter Five also examines an increasingly vocal group of Americans who during the late-1930s publicly criticized Corps conservation work, and Roosevelt's New Deal, for threatening American nature. While others like Bob Marshall faulted CCC conservation projects such as the building of roads in national parks for destroying wilderness, biological scientists followed Aldo Leopold's lead by claiming that seemingly benign Corps work such as the planting of trees in national forests actually upset ecological balance. Chapter Five examines how this growing opposition to the CCC sparked a public, national debate about the role of wilderness preservation and ecological balance within the conservation movement. The chapter concludes that while the widespread popularity of the CCC helped make the conservation movement a truly grassroots phenomenon, the public debate over Corps work indicated that the very meaning of conservation was in flux during the Great Depression era.
BONNIE S. McDOUGALL
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199256792
- eISBN:
- 9780191698378
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199256792.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, South and East Asia
The decision by Lu Xun and Xu Guangping to publish their correspondence was made in 1932, when the vogue for published love-letters by literary couples was at its height. An unacknowledged reason ...
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The decision by Lu Xun and Xu Guangping to publish their correspondence was made in 1932, when the vogue for published love-letters by literary couples was at its height. An unacknowledged reason behind the decision to publish their letters was financial need. By showing its development in a heavily edited version, Lu Xun and Xu Guangping controlled the story of their affair and made it respectable in the eyes of the world. The question of copyright on Letters between Two came under scrutiny in 1997 when Zhou Haiying complained that his mother's copyright was being ignored. Xu Guangping was generally conceded the status of a wife in the early 1930s and was treated as Lu Xun's widow after his death in 1936. The publication of Letters between Two played a part in their public acceptance as a couple.Less
The decision by Lu Xun and Xu Guangping to publish their correspondence was made in 1932, when the vogue for published love-letters by literary couples was at its height. An unacknowledged reason behind the decision to publish their letters was financial need. By showing its development in a heavily edited version, Lu Xun and Xu Guangping controlled the story of their affair and made it respectable in the eyes of the world. The question of copyright on Letters between Two came under scrutiny in 1997 when Zhou Haiying complained that his mother's copyright was being ignored. Xu Guangping was generally conceded the status of a wife in the early 1930s and was treated as Lu Xun's widow after his death in 1936. The publication of Letters between Two played a part in their public acceptance as a couple.
