Environmental Culture: the Ecological Crisis of Reason Many Readers Of

Contemporary Human Ecology

Environmental Culture: As the focus of the book is the ecological crisis of con- The Ecological Crisis of Reason temporary Western society, one primary target of critique is (quite logically) science. For Plumwood, too much science By Val Plumwood has become a “form of monological and dualistic thinking, New York: Routledge, 2002 [where scientists] set themselves radically apart from objects ISBN: 0-415178-77-0 of knowledge in a way that refuses objects elements of com- monality, mind, or intentionality” (p. 45). Under this ratio- Reviewed by John G. Hintz Department of Geography nalist gaze, nature becomes not just objectified, wholly University of Kentucky knowable, and technologically manageable, but literally replicable and replaceable as well. Such thinking is inherently anti-ecological, overlooking (or ignoring) humanity’s Many readers of Human Ecology Review are no doubt embeddedness in and interconnectedness with non-human familiar with Val Plumwood’s 1994 book Feminism and the nature. While this may be preaching to the congregation for Mastery of Nature (hereafter: FMN). In this earlier work, many ecologists, Plumwood sees the dualistic model of sci- Plumwood attempted a grand historical analysis of Western ence as actually increasingly its reach. With, for example, thought. Often cited as a foundational “ecofeminist” text, four out of five scientists now employed by corporations, sci- FMN traces the dualisms that undergird Western thought ence becomes less about understanding and more about (e.g., man/woman, mind/body, culture/nature). Such manipulating. Knowledge acquisition is increasingly justi- dualisms, Plumwood argues, serve to validate and buttress fied solely along instrumental concerns. the various “master” identities that rely upon the subjugation Plumwood’s writing is guided by commitments to femi- and exploitation of women, people of color, underclasses, nist and social justice advocacy. Corporate science holds little nature, etc. Writing FMN, Plumwood effectively anticipated concern for issues of gender, class, or racial equality. That the now-ubiquitous calls to move beyond dualistic thinking. much will surprise no one. But the regressive or even repres- In her latest book, 2002’s Environmental Culture: The sive effects of science are not solely the products of, say, the ecological crisis of reason (hereafter: EC), Plumwood takes genetic engineers employed by Monsanto or Dupont. First up where FMN left off. In EC, she begins the arduous task of world environmental scientists — the self-appointed “remaking the ... master story of colonization” (FMN, p. 195) “EcoGuardians” of the earth (p. 68) — are singled out for cri- by examining the connections between contemporary tique as well. Plumwood states that these “EcoGuardians” are Western culture and ecological destruction, as well as sketch- often “unable to recognize their own knowledge as politically ing the contours of a revisionist mode of ecological thought situated, hence failing to recognize the need to make it social- and practice. The subjects of her critique are legion. Bio- ly inclusive ... and actively engaged with its boundaries and engineers, economists, scientists, environmental activists, exclusions” (p. 68). This detached, privileged position allows and self-identified “deep ecologists” are all treated with the these scientists to completely miss the fact that their knowl- same careful and relentless scrutiny. edge is produced within — and often reinforces — inegalitar- In the introductory chapter of EC, Plumwood lays out ian social structures. A properly “ecological rationality” would two challenges to be met if a transition to an environmental guide a more self-critical science, fully aware of and sensitive culture is to be successful. The first of these is “the (re)situ- to its active role within (that is, not detached from) society. ating of the human in ecological terms” (p. 8). The second Plumwood’s critique goes well beyond social justice challenge is “the (re)situating of the non-human in ethical advocacy, however. Her concern for marginalized human terms” (p. 8). What she is proposing, then, is a human ecolo- social groups is mirrored by an equally sincere concern for gy coupled with a non-anthropocentric ecological ethics. The non-human nature. In EC, Plumwood develops an exhaustive ambitious breadth of the book should by now be quite clear. and sophisticated critique of anthropocentrism. In the same Few academics have attempted the scope of EC in an entire manner that radically rationalistic science can dismiss or career, much less within one book. It is perhaps the scope of ignore the concerns of marginalized human groups (seeing the book that makes it somewhat difficult to digest when read itself as privileged, as different), the “reason-centered” cover-to-cover. This is understandable, however, as it would Western worldview fully bifurcates the world into separate be all but impossible to finalize the tasks set forth in EC in realms of active, knowing ‘subjects’ and passive, knowable less than three hundred pages (or three thousand, for that ‘objects.’ The result is a “radical discontinuity” between matter). That being said, each individual section of the book humans (as the sole possessors of reason) and non-human is tight, effective, and convincing, and as such EC should nature (p. 100). make an excellent reference book and jumping-off point for Plumwood lays out four ways in which this dualistic students and academics in a variety of disciplines. human-centeredness is inherently anti-ecological and radical-

Human Ecology Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2003 77 Contemporary Human Ecology ly hubristic. Firstly, it justifies an ethics that fails to cross the Continuities in Sociological Human Ecology “human-species boundary” (p. 105). All nature is homoge- nous in its lack of consciousness and therefore not subject to Edited by Michael Micklin and Dudley L. Poston, Jr. the ethical considerations that guide human relationships. New York: Plenum Press, 1998 Secondly, the human dependency upon nature is “back- 373 pages, cloth grounded” or denied. Ecology becomes a mere “technologi- ISBN: 0-306-45610-9 cal problem to be overcome” (p. 105), and a false sense of Reviewed by Craig St. John human autonomy thus develops. Thirdly, nature — which can Department of Sociology only be defined by what it lacks in its non-humanness — University of Oklahoma becomes a purely negative space (lacking culture, lacking cultivation, lacking “improvements,” etc.). Finally, nature’s independent agency is erased, and its value can only be Continuities in Sociological Human Ecology is an edited assessed where it coincides with human interests. These collection of 16 chapters that are tied together because the “blindspots of centrism and human self-enclosure” must be contributors rely on ideas that were developed or elaborated overcome if there is to be any hope “for both our own and upon by Amos Hawley. Because it is difficult to make gen- nature’s survival in an age of ecological limits” (p. 122). eral statements about edited volumes, I will spend most of The proposal set forth in this book is, in a word, radical. this review describing the book’s contents. The book consists Plumwood is calling for nothing short of a transformation of of two parts. Part I includes nine essays dealing with con- our worldview. It could, of course, be argued that the possi- ceptual and theoretical issues. Part II includes seven exam- bility of the large-scale adoption of a “dialogical interspecies ples of empirical research. Some, but not all, of the empiri- ethics” (p. 166-195) is fantastical when considering current cal chapters in Part II examine theoretical issues raised in political trends. It could likewise be objected that what is Part I. really needed is a more pragmatic approach to solving eco- Part I begins with an essay by Hawley himself on the logical problems, one sensitive to what works and what does- relations among population, environment, and development. n’t, one flexible enough to mold itself to changing social and His primary concern is with disequilibrium in societies as political climates. Such a fidelity to practicalism is precisely, they move along a path of development. He notes that in I believe, what most environmental scientists and advocates human societies change can be cumulative and never has to (at least in the “First World”) practice. This is as understand- arrive at an equilibrium state. Chapter 2, by Dudley Poston able as it is laudable, as it is in countless, everyday on-the- and Parker Frisbie, sets out the general orientation of socio- ground battles that species are being saved from extinction logical human ecology and describes how it can apply to and watersheds being slated for protection. That being said, aggregate studies of migration. In Chapter 3, Michael only the most diehard optimist would claim that we in the Micklin and David Sly provide an elaboration of the ecolog- First World are living in an era of widespread ecological ical complex (POET). They are particularly interested in awareness and sustainability. identifying the mechanisms underlying ecological change. As many small battles are won, broader societal trends Paul Eberts, in chapter 4, links general systems theory and toward privatization and funding cuts in science and educa- policy analysis with the ecological perspective. In chapter 5, tion are combining to accelerate Western society’s plunge Charles Bidwell and John Kasarda discuss an ecological the- into a state of increasing ecological degradation. It is toward ory of organizational structure. In chapter 6, Frisbie and these pervasive trends — and the myriad everyday acts that Abdullah Al-Khalifah examine the contributions of human reinforce them — that Plumwood aims her critique. While no ecology to cross-national research. Steve Murdock and Don scientist can simply go to work tomorrow and begin practic- Albrecht examine the development of agriculture in the ing the holistic, enlightened ecologically rational science United States from an ecological perspective in chapter 7. Plumwood is proposing, every scientist, activist, or academic Mark Fossett and Cynthia Cready apply an ecological per- can benefit from examining the ways in which ideologies and spective to the study of ethnic and racial inequality in chap- everyday practices contribute to ecological problems. ter 8. And, in chapter 9 David Brown argues that ecological Environmental Culture goes a long way toward mapping out principles should be applied to spatial distribution policies. these connections, helping illuminate the ecological nature of Part II includes three chapters that examine human eco- all human social existence. In an age of small battles and sti- logical principles in non-Western societies, following up on fled politics, Plumwood’s first-rate, grand scale theorizing is Frisbie and Al-Khalifa’s previous theoretical chapter on the quite refreshing, and more timely than ever. application of human ecology to cross-national research. In

78 Human Ecology Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2003 Contemporary Human Ecology chapter 10, Frisbie and Al-Khalifa examine the division of technology” (increases in efficiency of production) tends to labor in Saudi Arabia. They show that in this society such reduce average sales per farm while “symbiotic technology” variables as population size, urbanization, development and (provides access to new or previously unavailable resources) transportation/communication employment are related as increase farm population, the number of farms, and average expected to the division of labor which, in turn, is related to sales per farm. Finally, in chapter 16, Fossett, Therese administrative intensity (proportion of the labor force in Seibert and Cready follow up on Fossett and Cready’s previ- professional, managerial and clerical occupations). In chap- ous chapter by examining labor force participation rates of ter 11, Michael Mao examines the division of labor in the African American men. They find that changes in the struc- People’s Republic of China. He shows that in China vari- ture of labor demand, most notably shifts in the occupational ables such as social density (proportion of the labor force in structure toward white-collar occupations with higher educa- transportation and communication industries) and urbanization requirements, have played an important role in the tion are related to the division of labor in the expected way. declining labor force participation of African American men Thus, both chapters demonstrate that factors that influence in the South. the division of labor in the United States also influence the The chapters in this book mostly are applications of tried division of labor in societies with different cultures and eco- and true ecological principles to new problems or new set- nomic systems. Poston, Micklin, and Jing Shu examine the tings: different countries, different groups of people, different extent to which minority groups in China are socially and units of analysis, different dimensions of sustenance organi- spatially differentiated in relation to the majority Han popu- zation, different technologies, etc. They do not represent lation in chapter 14. They find a positive correlation between substantial departures from pre-existing theory or research. the extent to which a minority group is spatially segregated To describe this book in ecological jargon, it represents from the Han majority and the extent to which a minority boundary expansion but not cumulative structural change. group and the Han majority are differentially distributed into There are two matters about which potential readers education, occupation, and age groups. This shows that the should be aware. One, since so many of the chapters deal in link between physical and social distance that exists in the some way with sustenance organization, social differentia- U.S. also exists elsewhere. tion, the division of labor, and the founding fathers of human Chapters 12 and 13 follow up on previous chapters on ecology, the discussion quickly grows repetitious and migration and population distribution. In chapter 12 Thomas tedious. Two, the literature cited and the research presented Hirschl, Poston and Frisbie examine the effects of sustenance in this book are seriously dated. Although the book was pub- activities on migration and in chapter 13 Sean-Shong Hwang lished in 1998, most of the chapters cite only a few, if any, and Murdock examine an ecological model of suburbaniza- works published after 1990 and all of the research is based on tion. Hirschl, Poston and Frisbie find that variation in net data from the 1980s or before. I got the impression that most migration among counties in New York state is more respon- of the chapters were written in the very early 1990s or late sive to differences in private sustenance organization than to 1980s. Any reader expecting to get a cutting edge picture of differences in public sustenance organization (Social human ecology from this book will be disappointed. Security participation and Food Stamp participation). Not surprisingly, net migration is negatively related to Food Stamp participation; people tend to move away from, not to, Briefly Noted places where people have low incomes. Hwang and Murdock find that “image” variables (density, age of housing stock, Reviewed and Compiled by Thomas J. Burns age of suburb, and percent owner-occupied) are better pre- Book Review Editor dictors of population growth in Texas suburbs than are struc- University of Oklahoma tural characteristics. Predictably, suburbs that were newest and growing fastest continued to experience the greatest rel- Democracy in Practice: Public Participation in ative population growth. Environmental Decisions In chapter 15, Murdock and Albrecht follow up on their By Thomas C. Beierle and Jerry Cayford previous chapter by applying an ecological perspective to the Washington, D.C: Resources for the Future Press, 2002 study of constraints and problems in U.S. agriculture. In the ISBN: 1-891853-54-6 first part of the chapter they find that counties with net in- migration tend to be those that specialize in sustenance activ- Beierle and Cayford seek to shed light on the often mis- ities that are internationally competitive. In the second part understood process of public discourse and environmental they demonstrate that the introduction of “commensalistic decision making in the public arena. Focusing their sample

Human Ecology Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2003 79 Contemporary Human Ecology on decisions taking place in the United States within the last manage the clean up of poorly ecologically-designed prod- thirty years, they examine records from various stages and ucts. Given the proper use of technology, much of which viewpoints of the process. They organize much of their already exists, the problem of how to dispose of waste would analysis around questions. For example, what type of issue be ameliorated to a large degree. Geiser effectively prolepts is at stake (e.g. local vs. national policy)? What are the counterarguments about ‘cost effectiveness’ by pointing out processes (e.g. selection of participants, consensus building that in many cases, there is a “win-win” solution that manu- strategies, etc.) involved? What are the institutional settings facturers could use that would keep production costs down as (e.g. in the case of government involvement, what is the lead they employ environmentally friendly practices. This book agency, what is the level of government involvement)? They lays out some important ideas about how societies can move conclude that agencies could do a better job of including toward sustainability. voices of the community, but to do so would require more resources and staffing. The public would do well to incorpo- The Environmental Implications of rate more technical information into their thinking and dis- Population Dynamics course. The authors also conclude that involving the public By Lori M. Hunter in environmental decision making tends to help alleviate con- Santa Monica, CA: The Rand Corporation, 2000 flict and build the public trust. ISBN: 0-8330-2901-0

Resource Rebels: Native Challenges to Mining Lori Hunter offers a brief overview of some of the trends and Oil Corporations associated with population growth, such as climate and land- By Al Gedicks use changes. She presents figures on populations of the Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2001 world’s largest cities, along with their respective growth ISBN: 0-89608-640-2 rates, pointing out the significantly higher growth in the less-developed countries. She summarizes recent World With an increasingly globalized energy market, strate- Resources Institute data on the largest world “megacities” for gies of native resistance to extractive industries have adapted a number of pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, in a variety of ways. Al Gedicks examines some of those lead, carbon monoxide, and ozone. She discusses the longer- adaptive strategies and movements, including the patterning term implications of differences between the more-developed of discourse around the symbolism of anti-mining, human and less-developed world regions in terms of population rights, and sustainability. He also examines counter-rhetori- pyramids. She briefly looks at energy usage by source, sum- cal strategies used by mining companies. Gedicks concludes marizing data from 1850-1990. She concludes with some with a chapter on “The Military, Trade and Strategies for specific policy implications, including a call for more inter- Sustainability,” in which he makes a number of generaliza- national cooperation, and a greater mindfulness of the “reci- tions: the isomorphism that is often assumed between procal nature of the relationship between population and nations and states (as in the battle lines typically being drawn environment.” between “nation-states”) often tends to underplay the impor- tance and voice of a minority people within a given state. In the Absence of Predators: Conservation and This is particularly problematic when resources are at stake Controversy on the Kaibab Plateau that are part of native or tribal lands. By Christian C. Young Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2002 Materials Matter: Toward a Sustainable ISBN: 0-8032-4916-0 Materials Policy By Kenneth Geiser Focusing on the case of the Kaibab Plateau north of the Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001 Grand Canyon, Christian Young points out some of the diffi- ISBN: 0-262-57148-X culties inherent in humans attempting to “manage” wildlife in an ecosystem. Young examines how an apparent “population Kenneth Geiser goes beyond the “reduce, reuse, recycle” explosion” of deer in the 1920s was at first attributed to a discussion with an engaging look at product design. Rather decline of natural predators, and how that view came to be than focusing on the waste end of a product lifecycle, he modified over time as various groups became involved in the focuses on the planning and design aspect of product lifecy- social construction of the problem. The sorts of groups cles. The deceptively simple central idea of the book is that Young considers include government agencies (themselves it is easier to minimize environmental damage by giving seri- differentiated into representing state and federal interests), ous forethought to how materials are designed than to try to scientists from an array of disciplines, conservationists, and

80 Human Ecology Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2003 Contemporary Human Ecology hunters. The message is that controlling wild populations is scape” has itself evolved. The included essays examine ques- a difficult and complex problem. Adding to the complexity is tions such as how landscapes have been created symbolically a multitude of voices, each with its own interests. Young con- in the human imagination and how they have been managed cludes that anyone attempting to “manage” nature should be in various historical contexts including, for example, Islamic aware of the tremendous complexities involved, many of Spain, Anglo-Saxon England, and Late Medieval Venice. An which are not controllable, particularly without disturbing important set of questions revolves around how public and some other aspect of the natural ecology. Thus, anyone private space are conceptualized, and how those conceptions attempting such a task should approach it with “flexible and are negotiated in different times and places. Another com- interactive management plans.” mon theme is that as far back as medieval times (and no doubt farther back than that), forests already figured prominently in Inventing Medieval Landscapes: Senses of the human imagination, with commonly held ideas about Place in Western Europe nature (such as the “forest primeval”) being deeply embedded Edited by John Howe and Michael Wolfe in the human psyche. Neither are contestations about how Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2002 those ideas are best constructed socially anything new. This ISBN: 0-8130-2479-X collection of historical essays lends a perspective on how themes about nature and landscape played themselves out in In this collection of essays edited by John Howe and medieval times. Michael Wolfe, historians engage how the concept of “land-

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