The Wilderness Knot

The Wilderness Knot THESIS SUBMITTED FOR DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN SYDNEY ‘ Haydn Grinling Washington 2006 DEDICATION For Angorawa, for Baiame Cave, and for Nullo – those genii loci who have guided me. And for Dyagula (the Lyrebird), my totem and teacher, whose voice I still hear. May you remain forever wild! ‘I hearing get, who had but ears, And sight, who had but eyes before; I moments live, who lived but years, And truth discern, who knew but learning’s lore. Now chiefly is my natal hour, And only now my prime of life; I will not doubt the love untold Which not my worth or want hath bought, Which wooed me young, and wooes me old, And to this evening hath me brought.’ Thoreau, as quoted by Emerson (1862) ‘If we turn our regard for nature more and more into clever philosophical word games, if we begin to think that we are intellectually creating nature rather than physically participating in it, we are in danger of losing sight of the real wolves being shot by real bullets from real aeroplanes, of real trees being clearcut, of real streams being polluted by real factories.’ Bryant (1995) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without many places and people. First is the wilderness itself, especially Wollemi, and the many years of teaching and sharing it has graced me with. In particular I acknowledge the Colo River, which has shaped my life, and Nullo Mountain, which has been my home now for many years – a wonderful place from which to create this thesis. I would like to thank my partner Christine for sharing so many wild places with me, and my brother Matthew for his thoughtful comments. This thesis would not have been possible without my Principal Supervisor Dr John Cameron, who acted as a true mentor, and whose gentle questioning and long hours spent making suggestions assisted greatly in drawing forth aspects of the thesis. I thank also my other co-supervisors, Dr Martin Mulligan and Dr. Jack Wolfenden, for their thoughts and comments. I also thank the eleven scholars who agreed to detailed interviews about the wilderness knot. I would like to give special acknowledgment to the members of the Blue Mountains Wilderness Network, without whom this thesis would not have been possible. Their many hours of input was simply invaluable. My thanks also to Dierk Von Behrens for editing assistance. Statement of Authentication The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. …………………………………………… (Haydn Washington) TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1. The Wilderness Knot 1 2. Situating my own involvement with ‘wilderness’ 5 3. Outline of thesis 7 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 11 1. Wilderness definitions 11 1.1 International definitions 11 1.2 Australian definitions 15 1.3 Recent definitions related to wilderness 16 2. The history of the wilderness movement 19 2.1 International history 19 2.2 Wilderness history in Australia 21 3. The importance of wilderness 24 3.1 Intrinsic value 25 3.2 Scientific values 28 3.3 Social, educational, recreational and cultural values 29 3.4 Spiritual and psychological values 31 4. The transformative power of wilderness 32 5. Strands comprising the wilderness knot 35 5.1 The philosophical strand 36 5.2 The political strand 57 5.3 The cultural strand 59 5.4 The social justice/ environmental justice strand 61 5.5 The exploitation strand 64 6. The Wilderness Knot – specific criticisms 66 6.1 Criticisms deriving from streams of postmodernism 68 6.2 Non-postmodernist criticisms 76 6.3 Putting criticisms in perspective 88 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY AND METHODS 90 1. Methodology 90 1.1 Participatory action research 91 1.2 Hermeneutic phenomenology 94 2. Methods 99 2.1 Participatory action research 99 2.2 Hermeneutic phenomenology 100 i CHAPTER 4 PAR CYCLES 1-3 102 1. PAR Cycle 1 - Setting up the Network and the trip to Gooches Crater 102 1.1 Planning 102 1.2 Action - Overnight campfire at Gooches Crater (21-22/2/04) 106 1.3 Reflection 107 2. PAR Cycle 2 - The ‘Wilderness Resurgence’ seminar. 110 2.1 Planning 110 2.2 Action – ‘Wilderness Resurgence’ Seminar 111 2.3 Reflection 115 3. PAR Cycle 3 - Forays into the public sphere 117 3.1 Mini-cycle 3a - Feedback from articles 117 3.2 Mini-cycle 3b - World Heritage Institute seminar 121 3.3 Mini-cycle 3c – Ecopolitics XV conference at Macquarie University 124 3.4 Mini-cycle 3d – The ‘Two Fires’ Festival 129 CHAPTER 5 CYCLE 4 - INTERVIEWS WITH ‘SCHOLARS’ 133 1. Planning 133 2. Action – the interviews 140 2.1 ‘James’, Dharug Traditional Custodian, 2/12/04 140 2.2 Dr. Rob Lesslie, conservation biologist, Bureau of Rural Sciences, 13/12/04 143 2.3 Dr. Val Plumwood, environmental philosopher, ANU, 14/12/04 147 2.4 Virginia Young, Director WildCountry Project, TWS 15/12/04 151 2.5 Prof. Mike Archer, University of NSW, 31/1/05 154 2.6 Dr. Deborah Bird Rose, anthropologist, ANU, 2/3/05 158 2.7 Ms. Penny Figgis, former Vice President of ACF, 22/3/05 162 2.8 Dr Tim Flannery, Director South Australian Museum, 20/4/05 167 2.9 Mr. Dean Stewart, Aboriginal Education Officer, Melbourne Botanic Gardens, 29/4/05 173 2.10 Dr. Rosemary Hill, 29/4/05, ACF Northern Lands Project Officer 175 2.11 Prof. Harry Recher, 22/7/05 181 3. Reflection 185 CHAPTER 6 CYCLE 5 – PROMOTING DIALOGUE 198 1. Mini-cycle 5a – First joint meeting to plan a ‘day of dialogue’ 198 1.1 Planning 198 1.2 Action 199 1.3 Reflection 202 2. Mini-cycle 5b – ‘Talking-stick’ meeting and BBQ 203 2.1 Planning 203 2.2 Action 205 2.3 Reflection 208 3. Mini-cycle 5c – The third meeting 210 3.1 Planning 210 3.2 Action 213 3.3 Reflection 220 ii 4. Mini-cycle 5d – The day of dialogue ‘Finding Common Ground’ 221 4.1 Planning 221 4.2 Action 224 4.3 Reflection 231 CHAPTER 7 HERMENEUTIC PHENOMENOLOGY – NETWORK WILDERNESS JOURNALS 235 1. Wilderness Journal – ‘Ron’, vet and bushwalker 235 2. Wilderness Journal of ‘George’, professional conservationist 239 3. Wilderness journal of ‘Sally’, consultant, former NPWS officer 244 4. Wilderness journal of ‘Henry’, consultant and former NPWS officer 249 5. Wilderness journal of Haydn Washington, ecologist and conservationist 253 CHAPTER 8 DISCUSSION 272 1. Participatory Action Research 272 1.1 Cycles 1-3 and 5 – in search of meaningful dialogue 272 1.2 Cycle 4 – insights from interviews with eleven scholars 279 2. Hermeneutic phenomenology using wilderness journals 323 2.1 The phenomenology of the wilderness experience 323 2.2 The phenomenology of encountering the wilderness knot 333 2.3 The contribution of phenomenological accounts to understanding the wilderness knot 336 3. In Conclusion 341 3.1 The big picture 341 3.2 The way forward 347 REFERENCES 352 Copyright © Haydn Washington iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. At ‘Finding Common Ground’, TO David (Gundungurra) speaks in front of the Colo Committee display 230 Figure 2. At the end of ‘Finding Common Ground’ a group celebrates its success 230 Figure 3. The miscommunication/ dialogue spiral 276 Figure 4. Mind-map of the spectra of ‘wilderness issues’ to do with the land 280 Figure 5. Mind map of spectra involved in our mind-set about ‘wilderness’ 303 Figure 6. The way forward 347 iv ABSTRACT Over the last thirty years the meaning of the word 'wilderness' has changed in Australia, and it has come under sustained attack on philosophical, cultural, political and ‘justice’ grounds. Why has this happened? Why have wilderness campaigns drastically slowed? Why do some people no longer use the term? How has the term become so confused? What could be done to reduce this confusion? This thesis investigates the 'Wilderness Knot’ – the confusion and tangled meanings around ‘wilderness’. In the literature this ‘knot’ is comprised of at least five strands; philosophical, political, cultural, justice and exploitation. Normally people focus only on the last of these strands, its economic exploitation. ‘Wilderness’ as a term is in a unique philosophical position, being disliked by both modernists and many postmodernists alike. The methodology is qualitative, involving participatory action research (PAR) and hermeneutic phenomenology. The PAR was done with the Blue Mountains Wilderness Network near Sydney, which investigated the confusion around ‘wilderness’, and sought to reduce this by entering into dialogue with supporters, critics and community members interested in wilderness issues, notably the local Aboriginal Traditional Owners (TOs). Eleven in-depth interviews with scholars (including critics) of wilderness were carried out to feed into this PAR. The hermeneutic phenomenology made use of the wilderness journals of five of the Network, and sought to gain a deeper understanding of the experience of wilderness itself, and also the lived experience of encountering the wilderness knot. The PAR provided many insights into the knot, especially regarding the need for dialogue to reduce the confusion. It demonstrated the delicacy needed to gain meaningful dialogue over an issue which raises real passions about social and environmental justice. It took three years to develop meaningful dialogue between TOs and conservationists. Recognition of such sensitivities is an important part of understanding why dialogue often fails, and confusion remains. There was also insight into the complexities and difficulties of collaborative efforts to promote dialogue. v All the scholars interviewed agreed that large natural intact areas ('lanais') should be protected, though some did not call them ‘wilderness’, but used other terms (for example; quiet country, core lands, wild country).

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