Grieving a Diminished Natural World
For many of us a very challenging component of eco-grief is knowing that we too are part of the problem. We inflict harm on what we love.
For many of us a very challenging component of eco-grief is knowing that we too are part of the problem. We inflict harm on what we love.
The education of older generations, including my own, has not prepared most faculty to hold these harsh truths and process these heavy emotions in generative ways, and thus, the education we offer our students is not preparing them to do so either.
Diverse movements such as the environmental, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and women’s empowerment movements require a unifying framework: a comprehensive partnership approach, recognizing our interconnection with one another and the natural world.
Perhaps the title of this piece is a bit too provocative. Even if Hannah Richie falls within the usual eco-modernist discourse, she is not obsessed with economic growth. This builds a good basis for agreement.
Yes, we are in rough weather. We are in a world of war and deep crises. But we are also in a world of people organising themselves in solidarity with farming, local food systems, organic, regenerative and permaculture farming, urban gardening and many more encouraging projects.
Bison reintroduction programs have gained traction on Tribal lands in the United States and Canada in recent years amid growing understanding of their role in ecosystem management and the impact their eradication has had on First Nations and Indigenous people.
This is what the Great Unraveling will look like as it continues to emerge, unrelated phenomena synchronising to exacerbate each other.
With the news cycle stuck in a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam of sudden, compelling crises and unending wars, world powers seem almost willfully blind to the possibility that the global environment (and with it, civilization itself) is spinning out of control — and not in some distant future but right now.
It’s simple economics really. When you have less of something for which there is high demand, the price will go up.
In a world where capitalism and green growth are often touted as the only options, Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto is a glimmer of hope shining through otherwise dark times.
The head of research at online publication Our World in Data, Hannah Ritchie, joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss her new “radically hopeful” read, Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet.
As the Great Unraveling continues apace, the need for radical change will become more apparent, causing more and more people to seek out alternatives. At that point, the winds of change will be blowing at our backs.