A. Whitney Sanford
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780813168630
- eISBN:
- 9780813168951
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813168630.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
How can we live together in ways that are healthy and sustainable for people and the planet? This book tells the story of people attempting to live intentionally and sustainably by practicing ideals ...
More
How can we live together in ways that are healthy and sustainable for people and the planet? This book tells the story of people attempting to live intentionally and sustainably by practicing ideals of nonviolence, participatory democracy, and voluntary simplicity. Between 2011 and 2015, I conducted ethnographic research in over twenty intentional communities, which can be broadly defined as residential communities organized around shared values, around the US. These communities understand themselves as demonstration communities, developing and testing, but not imposing, new patterns of living, eating, and communicating. Communities in this book include ecovillages, cohousing communities, and Catholic worker houses and farms, located in urban, rural, and suburban regions. The initial chapters of the book explore why people come to these communities, who comes, and what they do when they get there, including growing food, creating governance systems, and building community. Each faced similar sets of challenges that are familiar to us: most people are ambivalent in our attitudes towards authority, regulation, and community. The final chapters suggest ways to apply what these communities have learned in the context of our own lives and regions. Food co-ops, pocket neighborhoods, and cohousing, for example, offer some benefits of intentional communities such as control over food but require fewer drastic lifestyle changes.Less
How can we live together in ways that are healthy and sustainable for people and the planet? This book tells the story of people attempting to live intentionally and sustainably by practicing ideals of nonviolence, participatory democracy, and voluntary simplicity. Between 2011 and 2015, I conducted ethnographic research in over twenty intentional communities, which can be broadly defined as residential communities organized around shared values, around the US. These communities understand themselves as demonstration communities, developing and testing, but not imposing, new patterns of living, eating, and communicating. Communities in this book include ecovillages, cohousing communities, and Catholic worker houses and farms, located in urban, rural, and suburban regions. The initial chapters of the book explore why people come to these communities, who comes, and what they do when they get there, including growing food, creating governance systems, and building community. Each faced similar sets of challenges that are familiar to us: most people are ambivalent in our attitudes towards authority, regulation, and community. The final chapters suggest ways to apply what these communities have learned in the context of our own lives and regions. Food co-ops, pocket neighborhoods, and cohousing, for example, offer some benefits of intentional communities such as control over food but require fewer drastic lifestyle changes.
Frank Fischer
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- July 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199594917
- eISBN:
- 9780191842108
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199594917.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Ecovillages represent an existing and ongoing form of participatory environmental government that is anchored to real-world realities. These communities are essentially made up of people who have ...
More
Ecovillages represent an existing and ongoing form of participatory environmental government that is anchored to real-world realities. These communities are essentially made up of people who have rethought the way they live and taken steps to reduce their ecological footprint. Most are located in the countryside, but ecovillages and their variants are also found in major cities. There is also a global network of ecovillages. Linked together through the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), they are found in many countries around the world. Moreover, some of their members lead simple lives that involve practices that remind one of earlier centuries, described as a form of “reskilling.” But others accept high-tech features such as cell phones, internet connections, solar panels, and even research laboratories. Ecovillages do not represent the solution, but they are in a position to maintain the practices of participatory environmental governance during the climate crisis.Less
Ecovillages represent an existing and ongoing form of participatory environmental government that is anchored to real-world realities. These communities are essentially made up of people who have rethought the way they live and taken steps to reduce their ecological footprint. Most are located in the countryside, but ecovillages and their variants are also found in major cities. There is also a global network of ecovillages. Linked together through the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), they are found in many countries around the world. Moreover, some of their members lead simple lives that involve practices that remind one of earlier centuries, described as a form of “reskilling.” But others accept high-tech features such as cell phones, internet connections, solar panels, and even research laboratories. Ecovillages do not represent the solution, but they are in a position to maintain the practices of participatory environmental governance during the climate crisis.
Frank Fischer
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- July 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199594917
- eISBN:
- 9780191842108
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199594917.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Can contemporary democratic governments tackle climate crisis? Some say that democracy has to be a central part of a strategy to deal with climate change. Others say that experience shows it not to ...
More
Can contemporary democratic governments tackle climate crisis? Some say that democracy has to be a central part of a strategy to deal with climate change. Others say that experience shows it not to be up to the challenge in the time frame available—that it will require a stronger hand, even a form of eco-authoritarianism. This work seeks to sort out and assess the competing answers to a question that is not easily resolved. While the book supports the case for environmental democracy, it argues that establishing and sustaining democratic practices will be difficult during the global climate turmoil ahead, especially if confronted with permanent states of emergency. This inquiry undertakes a search for an appropriate political-ecological strategy capable of preserving a measure of democratic governance during hard times. Without ignoring the global dimensions of the crisis, the analysis finds an alternative path in the theory and practices of participatory environmental governance embodied in a growing relocalization movement, and a form of global eco-localism. Although these movements largely operate under the radar of the social sciences, the media, and the political realm generally, such vibrant socio-ecological movements not only speak to the crisis ahead, but are already well established and thriving on the ground, including ecovillages, eco-communes, eco-neighborhoods, and local transition initiatives. With the help of these ideas and projects, the task is to shift the discourse of environmental political theory in ways that can assist those who will face the climate crisis in its full magnitude in real terms.Less
Can contemporary democratic governments tackle climate crisis? Some say that democracy has to be a central part of a strategy to deal with climate change. Others say that experience shows it not to be up to the challenge in the time frame available—that it will require a stronger hand, even a form of eco-authoritarianism. This work seeks to sort out and assess the competing answers to a question that is not easily resolved. While the book supports the case for environmental democracy, it argues that establishing and sustaining democratic practices will be difficult during the global climate turmoil ahead, especially if confronted with permanent states of emergency. This inquiry undertakes a search for an appropriate political-ecological strategy capable of preserving a measure of democratic governance during hard times. Without ignoring the global dimensions of the crisis, the analysis finds an alternative path in the theory and practices of participatory environmental governance embodied in a growing relocalization movement, and a form of global eco-localism. Although these movements largely operate under the radar of the social sciences, the media, and the political realm generally, such vibrant socio-ecological movements not only speak to the crisis ahead, but are already well established and thriving on the ground, including ecovillages, eco-communes, eco-neighborhoods, and local transition initiatives. With the help of these ideas and projects, the task is to shift the discourse of environmental political theory in ways that can assist those who will face the climate crisis in its full magnitude in real terms.
A. Whitney Sanford
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780813168630
- eISBN:
- 9780813168951
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813168630.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Being the Change explores how intentional communities such as ecovillages, cohousing communities, and Catholic worker houses have tested alternative models of eating, building, and governing and what ...
More
Being the Change explores how intentional communities such as ecovillages, cohousing communities, and Catholic worker houses have tested alternative models of eating, building, and governing and what these communities can teach the rest of us about sustainable and harmonious living. The introduction lays out the book’s central arguments, introduces the communities, and highlights the language of intention, that we can be intentional about nonviolence, participatory democracy, and voluntary simplicity in our communities. Communities including Catholic Worker houses and farms, ecovillages, and cohousing communities illustrate how some communities have translated these values into practice.Less
Being the Change explores how intentional communities such as ecovillages, cohousing communities, and Catholic worker houses have tested alternative models of eating, building, and governing and what these communities can teach the rest of us about sustainable and harmonious living. The introduction lays out the book’s central arguments, introduces the communities, and highlights the language of intention, that we can be intentional about nonviolence, participatory democracy, and voluntary simplicity in our communities. Communities including Catholic Worker houses and farms, ecovillages, and cohousing communities illustrate how some communities have translated these values into practice.
Dan McKanan
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520290051
- eISBN:
- 9780520964389
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520290051.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Anthroposophy’s contribution to environmentalism is evident not only in biodynamic agriculture and green banking but also across the spectrum of anthroposophical initiatives. One of the most holistic ...
More
Anthroposophy’s contribution to environmentalism is evident not only in biodynamic agriculture and green banking but also across the spectrum of anthroposophical initiatives. One of the most holistic movements inspired by Steiner is the international network of Camphill communities, where people with and without developmental disabilities share daily life and work, often in agricultural settings. Camphill communities often function as innovative ecovillages, embracing carbon-neutral energy systems, biological wastewater treatment, and a variety of social enterprises. By linking concern with the natural world to concern for human health and well-being, they challenge the environmental movement to broaden its vision of ecology. Less
Anthroposophy’s contribution to environmentalism is evident not only in biodynamic agriculture and green banking but also across the spectrum of anthroposophical initiatives. One of the most holistic movements inspired by Steiner is the international network of Camphill communities, where people with and without developmental disabilities share daily life and work, often in agricultural settings. Camphill communities often function as innovative ecovillages, embracing carbon-neutral energy systems, biological wastewater treatment, and a variety of social enterprises. By linking concern with the natural world to concern for human health and well-being, they challenge the environmental movement to broaden its vision of ecology.
Frank Fischer
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- July 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199594917
- eISBN:
- 9780191842108
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199594917.003.0013
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
The Conclusion seeks to make clear not only where the discussion has taken the reader, but also how the journey should be understood. Throughout the eleven chapters of the book we have engaged in an ...
More
The Conclusion seeks to make clear not only where the discussion has taken the reader, but also how the journey should be understood. Throughout the eleven chapters of the book we have engaged in an exploratory search for an answer to the question: what are the democratic prospects during a full-scale climate crisis? It is an inquiry that takes the reader from the global to the local level. After briefly summarizing the sections of the book, this Conclusion then underscores the way in which climate “crisis” is a political and ecological crisis. Against worries about eco-authoritarianism, it clarifies the contribution of eco-localism and the role it can play, but also presents its limits. In this regard, it calls for a form of global eco-localism. It closes by stressing the need for a more relevant environmental political theory useful to those who will confront the full force of climate crisis ahead.Less
The Conclusion seeks to make clear not only where the discussion has taken the reader, but also how the journey should be understood. Throughout the eleven chapters of the book we have engaged in an exploratory search for an answer to the question: what are the democratic prospects during a full-scale climate crisis? It is an inquiry that takes the reader from the global to the local level. After briefly summarizing the sections of the book, this Conclusion then underscores the way in which climate “crisis” is a political and ecological crisis. Against worries about eco-authoritarianism, it clarifies the contribution of eco-localism and the role it can play, but also presents its limits. In this regard, it calls for a form of global eco-localism. It closes by stressing the need for a more relevant environmental political theory useful to those who will confront the full force of climate crisis ahead.
F. Bailey Norwood and Tamara L. Mix
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190620431
- eISBN:
- 9780190941383
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190620431.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics, American Politics
The quest for food access and an ethical diet often requires lifestyle adjustment. To reach this goal, people are willing to pay higher food prices to ensure better treatment of livestock, are ...
More
The quest for food access and an ethical diet often requires lifestyle adjustment. To reach this goal, people are willing to pay higher food prices to ensure better treatment of livestock, are patrons of local food suppliers, consider spaces that promote positive nutrition, and are planting more vegetable gardens. While most lifestyle alterations are minor, requiring little sacrifice, a food radical does not just stop with marginal changes, but adopts a way of living vastly different from the norm. Our food radicals also take action to directly implement practices to encourage greater and more mindful access to nutritional food.Less
The quest for food access and an ethical diet often requires lifestyle adjustment. To reach this goal, people are willing to pay higher food prices to ensure better treatment of livestock, are patrons of local food suppliers, consider spaces that promote positive nutrition, and are planting more vegetable gardens. While most lifestyle alterations are minor, requiring little sacrifice, a food radical does not just stop with marginal changes, but adopts a way of living vastly different from the norm. Our food radicals also take action to directly implement practices to encourage greater and more mindful access to nutritional food.
Karen Litfin
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198758662
- eISBN:
- 9780191818585
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198758662.003.0016
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter documents some of the everyday material and social practices in ecovillages around the world with the aim of showing how these are facilitated by a commitment to subjective and ...
More
This chapter documents some of the everyday material and social practices in ecovillages around the world with the aim of showing how these are facilitated by a commitment to subjective and intersubjective transformation. The author examines ecovillage culture through four windows into sustainability: ecology, economics, community, and consciousness—or E2C2. She finds that ecovillages in diverse socioeconomic and ecological contexts share a common commitment to a holistic worldview that understands humans as an integral part of the web of life and therefore capable of accessing the evolutionary intelligence that brought us to our current juncture. This ontological commitment helps to reframe environmental and political discourse from one of crisis and limits and constraint to one of abundance and human potential. These micro-societies, however, are small and time is short. Consequently, the chapter explores how the integrative sustainability strategies of ecovillages might be scaled up.Less
This chapter documents some of the everyday material and social practices in ecovillages around the world with the aim of showing how these are facilitated by a commitment to subjective and intersubjective transformation. The author examines ecovillage culture through four windows into sustainability: ecology, economics, community, and consciousness—or E2C2. She finds that ecovillages in diverse socioeconomic and ecological contexts share a common commitment to a holistic worldview that understands humans as an integral part of the web of life and therefore capable of accessing the evolutionary intelligence that brought us to our current juncture. This ontological commitment helps to reframe environmental and political discourse from one of crisis and limits and constraint to one of abundance and human potential. These micro-societies, however, are small and time is short. Consequently, the chapter explores how the integrative sustainability strategies of ecovillages might be scaled up.
