Hello fellow list members:
These are the proposed chapter headings for the second part of my book
proposal.
Best, David


                BOOK OUTLINE

This book will be based on articles written by David Orton over a period of
about twenty five years, though most of them were written during the last
few years. Each chapter theme will be discussed from past articles written
on the topic, but placed in a contemporary perspective. The relevant
articles are listed on the website under "A Taste of Green Web Writings and
Left Biocentrism": http://home.ca.inter.net/~greenweb/Taste-GW.html


Provisional Title: 
        LEFT BIOCENTRISM AND DEEP ECOLOGY: 
           CARING ABOUT NATURE AND PEOPLE
                        By David Orton



INTRODUCTION: PERSONAL BIOGRAPHY AND INTELLECTUAL BIOGRAPHY
Personal biography: Orton's social origins in England: working class,
wartime evacuation to the countryside, shipwright dockyard apprenticeship,
and boyhood interests in wildlife and nature; the reason for the emigration
to Canada; and the last twenty years of, in place, rural life in Nova
Scotia. Intellectual biography: unconscious social democracy of family
background in England; Canadian radical politics and their reflection in
the university as a student and short-lived faculty member in the 60s;
naturalist and outdoor involvement, environmental engagement and the
beginnings of an ecological consciousness.


CHAPTER ONE: PRE-DEEP ECOLOGY ENVIRONMENTAL WORK
Forest and wildlife struggles in British Columbia, South Moresby and
Tsitika watershed involvement - the fallacy of "multiple use" or
"integrated resource management." The credo of industry: "Forest management
for the primary production of timber;" the conservatism of naturalist
organizations and the limiting assumptions of mainstream environmentalism.
The critique of pulpwood forestry and of "natural resource management" in
Nova Scotia, and the ecological perspective. Uranium exploration/mining and
the self interest of the trade union movement. Discussion of why unions and
employers have an economic interest in the continuation of industrial
society and its priorities. Organizational differentiation from mainstream
environmentalism: not accepting government or corporate financing
or "working the system."


CHAPTER TWO: EMBRACING DEEP ECOLOGY AND VARIOUS PROBLEMS
Deep ecology as the ideological counter to "resourcism," the world view
that the non-human world exists as raw material for the human purpose.
Acceptance of the eight-point Platform. Deep and shallow ecology and
implications for industrial capitalism. Three key ideas: non-human
centeredness; the necessity for a new spiritual relationship to Nature; and
opposition to the idea of "private property" in Nature. Deep ecology as
part of the larger green movement - the first social movement in history to
advocate a lower material standard of living, from the perspective of
industrial consumerism. Nature as a Commons and not privatized. Problems:
ambiguity and the "conceptual bog" (Richard Sylvan) of deep ecology; who
‘owns' deep ecology and how does it evolve; Self realization and the
psychological self-absorbed path of "transpersonal ecology" (Fox); the
unreality of non violence and Gandhi, and implications for organizing; no
necessary separation of the peace, social justice and ecology movements;
lack of real political, economic, social analysis, or class perspective by
most deep ecology writers; lack of awareness of the imperial role of the
United States and its world-wide consumption of "resources"; the isolation
of deep ecology academics and their lack of accountability to the movement,
etc.


CHAPTER THREE: CHARACTERISTICS OF LEFT BIOCENTRISM
Social base of left biocentrism, theoretical and practical views, handling
contradictions among left biocentrists. Is there a role for anarchism?
Unity and differentiation with deep ecology. Other Left paths in deep
ecology and green theory: deep green theory (Sylvan), radical ecocentrism
(McLaughlin), green fundamentalism (Bahro), revolutionary ecology (Bari),
and ecologism (Dobson). Characteristics of socialist biocentrism and why
inadequate. Drafting of The Left Biocentrism Primer in 1998. What is
bioequity?


CHAPTER FOUR: ABORIGINAL ISSUES IN CANADA
A general overview of aboriginal issues as articulated in the 1996 Canadian
Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and a left biocentric
critique given. Implications of aboriginal views for wildlife, forestry,
parks, land claims and social justice. What should be supported and what
should be opposed on ecocentric and social justice considerations? Past
treaties dictated to aboriginals by a feudal-colonial state in Canada - can
they be models for contemporary land use and redress of grievances? Treaty
rights or social and ecological justice today: going beyond
human-centeredness, treaties, land ownership and property rights. What is
the relationship of contemporary aboriginal views to deep ecology and left
biocentrism within industrial capitalist society.  Deep stewardship of
traditional aboriginal thinking as human-centered. The imposition (and
implications) of the industrial consumer culture on aboriginals and non
aboriginals. Critique of "social environmentalism" in the mainstream
environmental movement, where social justice is upheld over environmental
justice: social ecology, eco-marxist and eco-feminist positions. 


CHAPTER FIVE: GREEN ELECTORALISM AND LEFT BIOCENTRISM
Deep ecology in contention for the consciousness of the green movement
(Realo/Fundi discussion). How the environmental movement in Canada and
elsewhere should define itself - reformist or subversive. Assumptions of
green electoralism and their congruence with the continuation of industrial
capitalism and shallow ecology. Ecological politics across the ‘isms' of
bourgeois society (Bahro). The disenfranchisement of the electorate with
the parliamentary road and liberal democracy: alternative ecocentric
visions which undermine industrial capitalist society cannot be advanced
through the electoral process, as they go against short-term economic
interests. The fundamental dilemma: eco-capitalism - ‘sustainable
development', ‘natural capitalism', ‘cradle to cradle' etc., or
revolutionary ecocentric change. The overall tendency towards absorption
and neutralization for "green" electoral parties and why this occurs.
Liberal democracy and ecocentric democracy: why they are incompatible. Is
there a political vehicle for a revolutionary deep ecology in our
contemporary world? Why some left bios work inside green parties and why
others work from the outside, and the example of the federal Canadian Green
Party.


CHAPTER SIX: THE ECOCENTRIC CRITIQUE OF THE LEFT
Green movement has replaced the socialist/communist movement as the center
of innovative debate and alternative thinking. No Earth justice without
social justice. Discussion of the positive ideas of the Left: e.g. society
should control the economy and not the economy control the society;
collective responsibility for all members of a society and opposition to
the cult of individualism and selfishness; class dimensions of
environmental, economic and social issues; etc. Opposing the negative ideas
of the Left: e.g. human-centered world view; hostility to population
reduction; Nature having no intrinsic value or worth unless transformed by
human labour; seeing capitalism, not industrialism, as the main problem;
lack of an alternative economic model; hostility towards Earth
spirituality; denial of personal responsibility for ecological destruction
or social actions, etc. The fiction of "ownership" of the Earth and its
life forms: "The Earth can belong to no one." (Bahro and Naess) Moving to
usufruct use, accountability to a community of all beings. Defining the
ecocentric Left, the NECESSITY that it be a vital component of a radical
deep ecology movement. The primacy of ecocentric consciousness and that
social justice, while very important, is secondary to such a consciousness.
Ecocentric justice as much more inclusive than human justice.


CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ECOFASCISM ATTACK ON DEEP ECOLOGY
Supporters of deep ecology uncomfortable and on defensive about ecofascism.
"Ecofascism" as an attack term, with social ecology roots, against deep
ecology and the environmental movement; linking deep ecology with Hitler's
"national socialist" movement, i.e. the Nazis. "Fascism", a term whose
origins and use reflect a particular form of HUMAN social, political and
economic organization, now with a prefix "eco", used against
environmentalists. On the other hand, for supporters of deep ecology the
concept "ecofascism" conjures thoughts of the violent onslaught against
Nature and its non-human life forms, justified as economic "progress";  the
so-called "Wise Use" movement in North America, which sees all of Nature as
available for HUMAN use. Different views of deep ecology and social ecology
on ecofascism, the love of Nature, spiritual transformation, non-coercive
population reduction, controls on immigration, etc.
Deep-green German ecophilosopher and activist Rudolf Bahro (1935-1997),
accused by social ecology supporters of being an ecofascist and a
contributor to "spiritual fascism". Bahro's conflict with left and green
thought orthodoxies. Bahro's interest in concretely building a mass social
movement, and his analysis of what there was to learn from the rise of
Nazism. How Bahro saw left "eco-socialist" opportunists, for whom ecology
was just an "add-on", without a transformation of world view and
consciousness. Bahro's resignation from the Green Party, because he saw
that the members did not want out of the industrial system.


CHAPTER EIGHT: THE LEFT BIOCENTRIC FOREST VISION
A vision of animals and plants, along with rocks, oceans, streams and
mountains having spiritual and ethical standing. Industrial forestry model
to be phased out in favour of low impact, value-added, selection forestry.
Appropriate social policy alternatives for forestry workers and communities
to be deep-ecology inspired. Sustainable forestry in a sustainable society.
Questioning some ecoforestry positions: that forests need be managed or
"restored"; that forests can be managed in an ecologically sensitive way.
Why forests should be left "unmanaged." Forest "certification" as a "green"
marketing gimmick. What is a deep-ecology inspired forestry, and the need
for primacy of non-economic interests in maintaining a living forest.


CHAPTER NINE: ANIMALS AND EARTH SPIRITUALITY
Deep ecology supporters as defenders of wild animals and their habitats.
Placing animals in a ecological, political, economic and cultural
"context". Opposing hunting in protected areas and parks, and uniting with
traditionalist aboriginals against the "resourcism" of industrial
consumerist society. Acceptance of subsistence hunting. Problem with
ethical social relativism. Earth spirituality, animals and organized
religion; the Abrahamic faiths and the Vedic religions. Modern day
religious fundamentalists, who aim to re-sacralize human societies, not the
natural world. The pre-industrial past. How deep ecology supporters want to
re-sacralize Nature. The need for a new language and a new philosophical
and spiritual outlook. The need to respect all animals as an integral part
of preserving the community of life.


CHAPTER TEN: RELIGIOUS AND ECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
The need to understand religious fundamentalism and economic fundamentalism
and how they relate to each other, their threat to the world. Both
fundamentalisms antagonistic to the goals of the deep ecology movement.
Fundamentalism as a form of "security" in religious conformity, as refuge
when cultures are falling apart. Different kinds of religious
fundamentalisms. Grievances in the Islamic world, inequality between Arabs
and Jews; the subservience of Arab states to U.S. foreign policy, etc. The
oil issue. Economic fundamentalism as an attempt to impose, if necessary by
force, one economic model on the world. U.S. economic fundamentalism and
its rhetoric of "freedom," "democracy," "individual initiative," etc. The
threat posed by U.S.-style economic fundamentalism to the well being of the
planet and its diverse inhabitants. Globalization and how its opponents are
being "squeezed" by Islamic and US economic fundamentalism.


CHAPTER ELEVEN: TRIBUTES
Tributes to Richard Sylvan, Rudolf Bahro, and Winin Pereira - three people
from Australia, Germany and India, who had an important influence on the
conceptualization of left biocentrism. The tributes were written on
learning of their deaths and are brief testimonials to this influence.


CONCLUSION: THE PRESENT SITUATION FOR LEFT BIOCENTRISM AND DEEP ECOLOGY
An assessment of the current situation for the philosophy of deep ecology
as an influence on the green and environmental movements, and the status,
at this time, of the theoretical tendency of left biocentrism.


APPENDIX
1. The Deep Ecology Platform 
2. The Left Biocentrism Primer

March 3, 2005

 

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