Eric Higgs
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226333861
- eISBN:
- 9780226333885
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226333885.003.0012
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter shows that as we practice ecological restoration, even wild places like the Canadian Rockies force us to give up modernist assumptions about nature. However, attempting to practice ...
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This chapter shows that as we practice ecological restoration, even wild places like the Canadian Rockies force us to give up modernist assumptions about nature. However, attempting to practice ecological restoration in a postmodern manner, we face the same sort of cultural choice as Borgmann's between “technological restoration” and “focal restoration.” The former practice results in the commodification of nature (e.g., Disney's “Wilderness Lodge”) and the commodification of practice (e.g., when corporations restore nature through landscaping). As an instance of a focal practice, focal restoration requires multifaceted engagement and “the realization of a new kind of relationship with nature, one that enforces humility and respect.” For this focal practice to become viable for many people, more must be done to reform the political economy than Borgmann outlines.Less
This chapter shows that as we practice ecological restoration, even wild places like the Canadian Rockies force us to give up modernist assumptions about nature. However, attempting to practice ecological restoration in a postmodern manner, we face the same sort of cultural choice as Borgmann's between “technological restoration” and “focal restoration.” The former practice results in the commodification of nature (e.g., Disney's “Wilderness Lodge”) and the commodification of practice (e.g., when corporations restore nature through landscaping). As an instance of a focal practice, focal restoration requires multifaceted engagement and “the realization of a new kind of relationship with nature, one that enforces humility and respect.” For this focal practice to become viable for many people, more must be done to reform the political economy than Borgmann outlines.
