Subject: Re: [permaculture] what is "politics" exactly...?
Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 10:56:19 -0800 (PST)
Don't forget Daniel Quinn in your reading list (esp "Ishmael" and "The Story
of B"). For that matter, jeffvail.net and anthropik.com write about these
issues. There are other web sites, too. A recent movie -
whatawaytogomovie.com - explores many of the driving forces and their website
has a comprehensive list of reading suggestions connecting ecological reality
with our "culture of make believe".
Breaking the spell that blinds us to reality seems oddly difficult to break.
It's like having a blind spot, seeing the gestalt shift, or dealing with
cognitive dissonance. Quinn's writing has been known to "get through" to the
most, which is why he is featured in the above movie. Then again, many read
Ishmael and can't get past a Gorilla being frustrated explaining this, which
symbolizes the whole point; others merely get dismissive, even if they see
some of what's being said. Anyone who really gets it will be really really
interested in Permaculture (assuming they get this message, too).
In this light, Communism and Capitalism are siblings, if not twins. How can
we be fighting over how to (politics) manage a household (economy), if we
don't even study it (ecology)? Ultimately, politics is a dialog on how to
not shit where we sleep?
-Sean.
----- Original Message ----
From: Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>
To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, December 7, 2007 12:48:17 PM
Subject: Re: [permaculture] what is "politics" exactly...?
Stimulated by Paul Cereghino's assertion (or recommendation) that
Permaculture design (even as applied to politics) should focus on
analysis of actual processes and phenomena, flows, source, sink, etc...
I Googled Ecology of Politics and Political Ecology to see what was
out
there that might correspond with Permacultural perspectives and found,
not surprisingly, an interconnected web of familiar thoughts, people,
books, theory and practice including:
Social Ecology: In response to the social and ecological crisis in
which we find ourselves immersed, social ecology advocates a
reconstructive approach that promotes a directly democratic,
confederal politics. As a body of ideas, social ecology envisions
*a
moral economy that moves beyond scarcity and hierarchy toward a
world that fully celebrates diversity*.
Social ecology is, in the words of its leading exponents, "a
coherent profound critique of current social, political, and
anti-ecological trends" as well as "a *reconstructive,
ecological, communitarian, and ethical approach to society*".
What literally defines social ecology as "social" is its
recognition of the often overlooked fact that *nearly all our
present ecological problems arise from deep-seated social
problems*. Conversely, present ecological problems cannot be
clearly understood, much less resolved, without resolutely
dealing with problems within society. To make this point more
concrete: *economic, ethnic, cultural, and gender conflicts,
among many others, lie at the core of the most serious
ecological dislocations we face today*--apart, to be sure, from
those that are produced by natural catastrophes.
Ivan Illich (who distinguishes between /environment as commons
/from
the /environment as resource)
/Political ecology (which Wikipedia defines as) the study of how
political, economic, and social factors affect environmental
issues.
The majority of studies analyze the influence that society, state,
corporate, and transnational powers have on environmental problems
and influencing environmental policy. There are many approaches to
these issues, and some scholars give weight to the role that access
to natural resources plays in structuring political and economic
life: particularly how land degradation, 'fortress'-style wildlife
conservation, or deforestation influences a range of social
relations and politics.
A number of books (for which I have created a new category at
Permaculture Trading Post called Eco-Politics
...and much more. If Permaculture represents "the connecting
science", these provide many opportunities to connect the dots and
build bridges between our local cultures and the living planet.