Eric T. Freyfogle
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226326085
- eISBN:
- 9780226326252
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226326252.003.0004
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
David Orr stands as perhaps the preeminent American conservation voice linking the possibilities for progress through environmental engineering and cradle-to-cradle technology with the essential need ...
More
David Orr stands as perhaps the preeminent American conservation voice linking the possibilities for progress through environmental engineering and cradle-to-cradle technology with the essential need for basic cultural and institutional change. This chapter brings together Orr’s views on nature and culture and his varied commentaries on the flaws in modern culture and in current economic and political arrangements. It argues that Orr’s wide-ranging, boldly colored, passionate essays work well to inspire audiences prone to agree with him. Yet his eclectic criticism fails to cohere into a clear reform message and is less valuable as a result. Even as he works at the local level on land-planning efforts, Orr puts little stress on needs for collective action at higher levels, either to promote the cultural messages he deems important or to instigate institutional reform. Orr’s impressionist, provocative presentations become more useful when distilled, pruned, and combined with the wisdom of others into a more coherent plan for social change.Less
David Orr stands as perhaps the preeminent American conservation voice linking the possibilities for progress through environmental engineering and cradle-to-cradle technology with the essential need for basic cultural and institutional change. This chapter brings together Orr’s views on nature and culture and his varied commentaries on the flaws in modern culture and in current economic and political arrangements. It argues that Orr’s wide-ranging, boldly colored, passionate essays work well to inspire audiences prone to agree with him. Yet his eclectic criticism fails to cohere into a clear reform message and is less valuable as a result. Even as he works at the local level on land-planning efforts, Orr puts little stress on needs for collective action at higher levels, either to promote the cultural messages he deems important or to instigate institutional reform. Orr’s impressionist, provocative presentations become more useful when distilled, pruned, and combined with the wisdom of others into a more coherent plan for social change.
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 ...
More
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.
