Hello fellow list members:
This is something which I have been working on for some time. For
those interested in or sympathetic to the deep ecology movement, the
publication of these _Selected Works of Arne Naess_ is an event of
some importance. My Critical Appreciation, which was written to make
this event more widely known, is now on our web site at
http://home.ca.inter.net/~greenweb/Naess_Appreciation.html
Below is the "Introduction" and part of the "Discussion" dealing with
Green Politics. The full text on the web site is about 3,200 words.
Best, David Orton
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A Critical Appreciation: The Selected Works of Arne Naess
By David Orton
_The Selected Works of Arne Naess_, Volumes 1-10
Edited by Harold Glasser with assistance from Alan Drengson in
cooperation with the author, Springer, The Netherlands, 2005, approx.
3650 pages, hardcover, ISBN: 1-4020-3727-9.
(Publication made possible through a grant from the Foundation for
Deep Ecology. The individual volumes are not available separately,
the whole set must be purchased. The current price for all the
volumes from the publisher Springer is US $1,900.)
"The establishment of a green society presupposes the implementation
of the necessary
changes suggested in the deep ecology formulation." (Volume Ten, p.574)
Introduction
_The Selected Works of Arne Naess_ in ten volumes have recently been
published and made available to me. I am a supporter and proponent of
deep ecology and am interested in theoretical (and practical)
questions, but I am not into deep ecology hagiography. I found that
there is a tone, by the academics who have helped put this work
together, of being in the presence of sacred texts. Mine is a
supportive but critical perspective towards this philosophy, which is
so important for humankind, in trying to work out a new and
sustainable relationship with the natural world. This appreciation
and evaluation of the Selected Works are from a movement and activist
perspective.
Arne Naess (born in 1912) is the Norwegian founder and intellectual
father of the deep ecology movement. Naess did not "invent" deep
ecology, it existed before him as a way for humans to approach and
coexist with the natural world. But he did give this eco-philosophy a
name and an overall theoretical framework. Naess himself uses the
1962 publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, as marking the
start of the international movement of deep ecology. This philosophy
orients many in the green and environmental movements and some deeper
electoral greens (for example, in the Canadian federal Green Party).
Naess began his ecophilosophy writings in the mid 1960s.
Naess says that after he gives a talk on deep ecology, people often
come up to him and say, "'That's exactly what I have felt for many
years but did not find ways to express!'" (Volume Ten, pp. 544-545)
The titles of the various volumes are given below:
- Volume One, Interpretation and Preciseness: A Contribution to the
Theory of Communication, 522 pages.
- Volume Two, Scepticism: Wonder and Joy of a Wandering Seeker, 174 pages.
- Volume Three, Which World Is the Real One? Inquiry into
Comprehensive Systems, Cultures, and Philosophies, 172 pages.
- Volume Four, The Pluralist and Possibilist: Aspects of the
Scientific Enterprise, Rich Descriptions, Abundant Choices, and Open
Futures, 162 pages.
- Volume Five, Gandhi and Group Conflict: Exploration of Nonviolent
Resistance, Satyagraha, 188 pages.
- Volume Six, Freedom, Emotion and Self-Subsistence: The Structure of
a Central Part of Spinoza's Ethics, 156 pages.
- Volume Seven, Communication and Argument: Elements of Applied
Semantics, 120 pages.
- Volume Eight, Common Sense, Knowledge, and Truth: Open Inquiry in a
Pluralistic World, Selected Papers, 380 pages.
- Volume Nine, Reason, Democracy, and Science: Understanding Among
Conflicting Worldviews, Selected Papers, 370 pages.
- Volume Ten, Deep Ecology of Wisdom: Explorations in Unities of
Nature and Cultures, Selected Papers, 688 pages.
DISCUSSION
...
Green Politics
Volumes Ten and Five will be important for those who support green
politics. Green societies must resolve not only ecological problems,
but also social justice and peace problems. Changing attitudes
towards nature in the industrialized countries like Canada is
fundamental, for the deep ecology movement to attain sustainability.
However, all countries are "developing" in ecologically unsustainable
ways. More global trade, and the increased mobility of goods and
people, mean that ecological problems will increase.
For Naess, green politics means the elimination of class difference,
globally, nationally, and locally. For him, "The direction is
revolutionary, the steps are reformatory." (Volume Ten, p. 216) He
notes that, within green parties, being clear about the differences
between fundamentalist and pragmatist positions will minimize
internal strife. Also, he states that compromises will need to be
made: "Fundamentalists take a hard stand on ecological issues;
pragmatists are willing to consider compromises for social justice's
sake, for example. (Volume Ten, p. 197)
Being a deep ecology so-called fundamentalist myself, I am willing to
compromise on non-essentials, but not on matters of principle, such
as whether or not the Canadian Green Party should support Canadian
troops as part of a military occupation of Afghanistan. There are
some contrasting positions, between which bridges cannot be built. As
fellow Norwegian Sigmund Kvaloy has noted, polarization is often
good, it being a way to bring about deeper discussions and reveal
where people actually stand on matters of substance.
Another important quote for supporters of green electoral politics:
"It is essential for supporters of green politics to maintain and
show that they cannot be placed on the line between red and blue."
(Volume Ten, p. 203)
Greens who are supporters of deep ecology must be open to the lessons
that can be learned from social ecology and ecofeminism. Naess says:
"I think that the deep ecology approach includes what we think is
important in the social ecology movements, and also important things
in ecofeminism. We are so grateful to work with these ideas. Deep
ecology supporters must acknowledge that we sometimes have a
one-sided view." (Volume Nine, p. 319)
The Canadian federal Green Party, which is currently the fourth
largest political party in Canada, polling over four per cent of the
vote in two recent federal elections, has claimed that it supports
deep ecology, as in the 2004 Election Platform (although the dominant
ecological flavour within the party is light green). Light greens are
supporters of what Naess calls shallow ecology: "The supporters of
shallow ecology think that reforming human relations toward nature
can be done within the existing structure of society. They propose to
make small changes here and there within the institutions; they
suggest technical development to reduce pollution. They don't get
down to the basics because they think that business can continue as
usual." (Volume Ten, p. 16)
The light green approach can be seen in the 2006 federal Election
Platform of the Green Party of Canada. This Platform did not convey
the depth of the crisis facing industrial capitalist society and the
basic ecological unsustainability of capitalism, based as it is on
increasing growth and consumerism. It also did not convey the kind of
measures necessary to orient to a truly sustainable path. The 2006
Platform did not mention deep ecology and was quite human-centered;
it did not call for population reduction and a reduction in material
living standard; it supported carbon emissions trading; and it put
forward "tax shifting" as an allegedly painless eco-capitalist path
forward. But the Green Party does have a spokesperson for deep
ecology in its shadow cabinet (myself). From my perspective, as
opposed to other bourgeois parties, voting for any deep green party
should mean voting for humans to make peace with Nature before it is
too late. It should mean voting for the trees, for the birds and for
the other animals. It should mean voting for the rivers and
mountains, and for clean air and for clean water.
...
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