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.
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/9780226326252.003.0005
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
With his encyclical, Laudate Sí, Pope Francis has joined the ranks of commentators who trace misuses of nature to grave flaws in modern culture and in the institutions that reflect and perpetuate ...
More
With his encyclical, Laudate Sí, Pope Francis has joined the ranks of commentators who trace misuses of nature to grave flaws in modern culture and in the institutions that reflect and perpetuate these flaws. Francis similarly joins those who contend that the root causes of environmental decline also play roles in fostering economic inequality and injustice, and that efforts to address environmental ills must also address income and power inequities. This chapter rearranges the Pope’s wide-ranging comments into a more focused critique of modernity and a call for a fundamental change of direction by all peoples. At bottom, Laudate Si’ poses a stark challenge to global capitalism, to excessive consumption, and to widely-embraced ideas of sustainable development. The Pope’s message leaves key pieces undeveloped, including a blurry line between the use and abuse of nature, vagueness on whether efforts to aid the poor might rightly bring further short-term degradation, and inadequate attention to overpopulation. It is nonetheless a highly valuable contribution, one that aligns well with the similarly wide-ranging critiques of Leopold, Berry, and Orr, and includes intriguing hints that human population, at least in places, has reached excessive levels.Less
With his encyclical, Laudate Sí, Pope Francis has joined the ranks of commentators who trace misuses of nature to grave flaws in modern culture and in the institutions that reflect and perpetuate these flaws. Francis similarly joins those who contend that the root causes of environmental decline also play roles in fostering economic inequality and injustice, and that efforts to address environmental ills must also address income and power inequities. This chapter rearranges the Pope’s wide-ranging comments into a more focused critique of modernity and a call for a fundamental change of direction by all peoples. At bottom, Laudate Si’ poses a stark challenge to global capitalism, to excessive consumption, and to widely-embraced ideas of sustainable development. The Pope’s message leaves key pieces undeveloped, including a blurry line between the use and abuse of nature, vagueness on whether efforts to aid the poor might rightly bring further short-term degradation, and inadequate attention to overpopulation. It is nonetheless a highly valuable contribution, one that aligns well with the similarly wide-ranging critiques of Leopold, Berry, and Orr, and includes intriguing hints that human population, at least in places, has reached excessive levels.
