Ecologism
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KEY CONCEPT POSTMATERIALISM
that conditions ofmaterial scarcity breed egoistical and acquisitive values, meaning that politics is dominated by economic issues (who gets what). However, in conditions of widespread prosperity, individuals tend to express more interest in ‘postmaterial’ or ‘quality of life’ issues. These are typically concerned withmorality, political justice and personal fulfilment, and include gender equality, world peace, racial harmony, ecology and animal rights.
Postmaterialism is a theory that explains the nature of political concerns and values in terms of levels of economic development. It is based loosely on Abraham Maslow’s (1908–70) ‘hierarchy of needs’, which places self-esteem and self-actualization above material or economic needs. Postmaterialism assumes
In their search for an alternative model of human well-being, green theorists have generally emphasized the importance of ‘quality of life’ issues and concerns, thereby divorcing happiness from a simple link to material acquisition. Such thinking is taken most seriously by eco-anarchists, ecofeminists and especially deep ecologists. In line with Fromm, they have placed ‘being’ above ‘having’. The key feature of ‘being’ as an attitude of mind is that it seeks to transcend the self, or individual ego, and to recognize that each person is intrinsically linked to all other living things, and, indeed, to the universe itself.The Australian philosopherWarwick Fox (1990) claimed to go beyond deep ecology in embracing ‘transpersonal ecology’, the essence of which is the realization that ‘things are’, that human beings and all other entities are part of a single unfolding reality. For Naess, self-realization is attained through a broader and deeper ‘identification with others’. Such ideas have often been shaped by Eastern religions, most profoundly by Buddhism. One of the core features of Buddhism is the doctrine of ‘no self ’, the notion that the individual ego is a myth or delusion, and that awakening or enlightenment involves transcending the self and recognizing the oneness of life. TYPES OF ECOLOGISM The key sub-traditions of ecologism are as follows: z z reformist ecologism
z z eco-socialism z z eco-anarchism z z eco-feminism z z deep ecology.
Reformist ecology Reformist or modernist ecology refers to the form of ecologism that is practised by most environmental pressure groups and by a growing range of mainstream political parties. It is reformist in that it seeks to advance ecological principles and promote ‘environmentally sound’ practices, but without rejecting the central features of capitalist modernity – individual self-seeking, materialism, economic growth and so on. It is thus very clearly a form of ‘shallow’ or humanist ecology. The key feature of reformist ecology is the recognition that there are environmental limits to growth, in the sense that pollution, increased CO2 emissions, the exhaustion of non-renewable energy sources and other forms of environmental degradation ultimately threaten prosperity and
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