DOCSLIB.ORG

Environmental Pillar Submission on the Development of a National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Environmental Pillar Submission on the Development of a National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland Environmental Pillar Submission on the Consultation National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland Effects of investments in education for sustainability Carayannis et al. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 2012 1:2 doi:10.1186/2192-5372-1-2 Download authors' original image Environmental Pillar Submission on the Development of a National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland Sept 2013 Page 1 of 24 Environmental Pillar Submission on the Consultation National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland Introduction The Environmental Pillar welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Development of a National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland . We offer the following comments which we believe will be helpful in developing an holistic National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development. The incorporation of sustainability into all aspects of life is essential, if we are to successfully face the challenges of climate change, declining biodiversity, resource scarcities and a range of negative human impacts on water, air and soils. The continuing success of human society and social systems depends fundamentally on the preservation of the overall productivity, health and long term sustainability of the ecosystems and environmental services that underpin and supply many of the most basic components of human welfare such as healthy soils, clean water and clean air. These are the real assets that we have inherited and that we should hand on in good order to future generations. This is our real wealth and we are destroying so much of it often without giving it a thought. As agreed in 1992 in Rio, the most appropriate way for human society to proceed towards sustainability is through the guidelines laid down in Agenda 21. Ireland was a signatory and yet has done very little since to implement it. Implicit in this is the need to take an ‘ecosystems approach’ when designing, planning and reviewing all plans and programmes. A national strategy for ESD must be based in these fundamentals and be extended well beyond the formal education system. The Environmental Pillar is a national Social Partner established by Government decision in 2009. It is an advocacy coalition of 27 national environmental NGOs. Environmental Pillar members: An Taisce . Bat Conservation Ireland, BirdWatch Ireland . CELT - Centre for Ecological Living and Training . Coast Watch . Coomhola Salmon Trust . Crann . ECO UNESCO . Feasta . Forest Friends . Friends of the Earth . Global Action Plan Ireland, Gluaiseacht . Grian . Hedge Laying Association of Ireland . Irish Doctors Environment Association . Irish Natural Forestry Foundation . Irish Peatland Conservation Council . Irish Seal Sanctuary . Irish Seed Saver Association. Irish Whale and Dolphin Group . Irish Wildlife Trust . The Organic Centre . Sonairte . Sustainable Ireland Cooperative . VOICE . Zero Waste Alliance Ireland Whilst this document was developed through the processes of the Environmental Pillar it does not necessarily represent the policies of all its members. Page 2 of 24 Environmental Pillar Submission on the Consultation National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland Contact information: For further details please contact Michael Ewing, Coordinator. Environmental Pillar Knockvicar, Boyle, Co Roscommon. Telephone: 01 8780116 Mobile: 00353 (0)86 8672153 Email: [email protected] Skype: michaelk.ewing _________________________________________________________________________________ Section I - Definition A definition of sustainable development is provided on the background paper as `development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. (Defined by the Our Common Future (The Brundtland Report) - Report of the 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development; Quoted in Our Sustainable Future - A Framework for Sustainable Development in Ireland, p.10) 1. How would you define `education for sustainable development'? Building on the definition above… Education for Sustainable Development involves learning experiences which develop and strengthen the capacity of individuals, groups, communities and organisations to make judgements and choices in favour of sustainable development. ESD doesn’t teach a particular subject but rather asks participants to consider different issues related to sustainable development and come to a deeper understanding of issues. The primary characteristics of ESD are; 1. It is holistic and interdisciplinary- Looking at how social, environmental and economic issues are interconnected. 2. Values driven- questioning current values and sharing the values underpinning sustainable development. Page 3 of 24 Environmental Pillar Submission on the Consultation National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland 3. Critical thinking- developing a competency in addressing the challenges and opportunities of sustainable development. 4. Locally relevant- addressing local and global issues and using the language(s) and communication methods that learners most commonly use. 5. Multi –Method- Experienced learning. Many methods used in ESD are the same as those used in Development education and Youth work. 6. Participatory Decision-making- learners participate in decisions that affect them and decisions about how they are to learn. Education for Sustainable Development is intergenerational in its nature and purpose; it requires us to learn from past experiences and to act to shape a just, equitable and sustainable future. It implies that economic, social and environmental development are inextricably linked and must be considered together. Education for Sustainable Development is about understanding the interdependencies and interconnectivities that exist within the world, and using this to address problems such as wasteful consumption, environmental degradation, urban decay, population growth, gender inequality, health, conflict and the violation of human rights (UNESCO, 2002:10). Education for Sustainable Development aims to empower people of all ages to assume responsibility for creating a sustainable future (UNESCO, 2002: 7). Essentially it is about reorienting education systems, policies and practices to enable the learner to address issues of sustainability and make clear decisions for action that are culturally appropriate and locally relevant UNESCO, 2002:10) ESD is far more than teaching knowledge and principles related to sustainability. ESD, in its broadest sense, is education for social transformation with the goal of creating more sustainable societies. ESD touches every aspect of education including planning, policy development, programme implementation, finance, curricula, teaching, learning, assessment, administration. ESD aims to provide a coherent interaction between education, public awareness, and training with a view to creating a more sustainable future (UNESCO, 2012b). 2. What is the key priority for making education for sustainable development a reality? A key priority of ESD is recognising the imperative role of a high quality natural environment as a basis for sustainable development and the important role of education for change in the protection of the natural environment to achieve a sustainable world. Building upon existing educational opportunities for ESD within non formal and formal education, and putting structures in place to strengthen and support these including the scaling up of successful programmes. According to UNESCO’s Proposal for a Global Action programme on Education for Sustainable Development as Follow up to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development the overall goal is to “generate and scale –up in all levels and areas of education and learning in order to accelerate progress towards sustainable development.” This is developed further in two objectives; Page 4 of 24 Environmental Pillar Submission on the Consultation National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland 1. to reorient education and learning so that everyone has the opportunity to acquire the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that empower them to contribute to sustainable development. 2. to strengthen education and learning in all agendas, programmes and activities that promote sustainable development. Five priority action areas identified are; 1. Policy support- integrating ESD into national policies in education and sustainable development. 2. Whole-institution approach – to promote whole institution approaches to ESD at all levels and in all settings. 3. Educators- strengthen the capacity of educators, trainers and other change agents to become learning facilitators for ESD. 4. Youth- support youth in their role as change agents for sustainable development. 5. Local communities- accelerate the search for sustainable development solutions at the local level through ESD. Page 5 of 24 Environmental Pillar Submission on the Consultation National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland Section II - Objectives, challenges and actions Objective 1: Embedding education for sustainable development at every level of the education system 3. How can education for sustainable development be most effectively embedded at every level of the education system? Please give practical examples if possible. Our sustainable Future – speaks of Integrating ESD into all areas of the curriculum in schools and
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Front 300:Ekaterini
    Institute for International Integration Studies IIIS Discussion Paper IIIS Discussion Paper No.340/ October 2010 Rescaling climate justice: sub-national issues and innovations for low carbon futures Climate Justice Series Anna Davies Geography, School of Natural Sciences, TCD Niamh Kirwan Geography, School of Natural Sciences, TCDMoving beyond the Legacies of the Celtic Tiger IIIS Discussion Paper No. 340 Rescaling climate justice: sub-national issues and innovations for low carbon futures Climate Justice Series Anna Davies Geography, School of Natural Sciences, TCD Niamh Kirwan Geography, School of Natural Sciences, TCD Disclaimer Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of the IIIS. All works posted here are owned and copyrighted by the author(s). Papers may only be downloaded for personal use only. Rescaling climate justice: sub-national issues and innovations for low carbon futures Working Paper Not to be cited without prior consent Prof Anna Davies (TCD) & Niamh Kirwan (Comhar) Abstract Climate justice is emerging as a discourse for mobilising activism around the globe. The language of justice is less explicit as a policy principle despite long standing attention to negotiating responsibilities for causing climate changes and bearing costs related to reducing climate change emissions. Nevertheless there are significant justice issues in terms of how mitigation and adaptation will have differential impacts for people in different places. Even where responsibility and equity negotiations have taken place they have tended to occur at the nation state scale through global institutions and events. However, justice implications of climate change are much more socially and geographically variegated than this would suggest.
    [Show full text]
  • Irish Environmental Activism: from Woodquay to the ‘Celtic Tiger’
    The Environmental Movement in Ireland The Environmental Movement in Ireland Liam Leonard Foreword by John Barry Liam Leonard Social Science Research Centre (SSRC) National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland Cover Images © 2007 Jupiter Images Corporation ISBN 978-1-4020-6811-9 e-ISBN 978-1-4020-6812-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2007938051 © 2008 Springer Science + Business Media B.V. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 springer.com Foreword At the time of writing many of the issues discussed by Liam Leonard in The Environmental Movement in Ireland are reflected in the new political realities of the island of Ireland North and South. The Green Party – since December 2006 organised on an all Ireland basis – is in coalition government in the Republic while in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections in March it gained its first elected Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). These developments clearly indicate a level of popular and political success of the Green Movement and issues of (un)sustainable development, but also open up a new and uncharted area for the movement with high expectations of Greens in Government. Long-standing green issues, particularly around climate change and energy security, have received unprecedented levels of popularisation through almost daily media coverage and documentaries such as former US Vice President Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and the ‘Live Earth’ global concerts.
    [Show full text]
  • Greenhouse Gas Policies in Ireland 1990 -2012 : Reliance on the Land
    Provided by the author(s) and NUI Galway in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite the published version when available. Title Greenhouse gas policies in Ireland 1990 -2012 : Reliance on the land Author(s) Doyle, Colin Publication Date 14-08-01 Item record http://hdl.handle.net/10379/4643 Downloaded 2021-09-25T07:14:02Z Some rights reserved. For more information, please see the item record link above. GREENHOUSE GAS POLICIES IN IRELAND 1990 – 2012 RELIANCE ON THE LAND Colin Doyle Supervisor: Dr. Kieran Hickey Thesis submitted for the Degree of Ph.D Department of Geography School of Geography and Archaeology College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies National University of Ireland, Galway April 2014 ABSTRACT This research sought to determine the extent to which national greenhouse gas (GHG) policy relied upon the land, through afforestation, controls on agriculture, and expansion of bioenergy. The implications of this reliance were explored with reference to evolving EU targets and sustainability considerations. The study was based on analysis of national and UNFCCC documents for the period 1990 to 2012, supplemented by interviews with actors and stakeholders. Ireland was assigned a Kyoto limit of +13% re 1990. It was found that savings associated with the land were 5 MtCO2eq, which facilitated a 34% increase in emissions from energy and industry sectors, while still meeting the limit. However, the state also faced a stringent EU target of 20% reduction in emissions by 2020. National actors attributed the difficulty in reaching this target to agricultural emissions, and called for reductions. This view is questioned. In the historical context, agricultural emissions were not excessive.
    [Show full text]
  • Opening Statement, Ian Lumley, Head of Advocacy, an Taisce
    Submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee Agriculture and Marine Meeting 4th May 2021 Implications of the Climate Action Plan for the Agriculture Sector, Impacts of Farming Practices, and Discussion of Carbon Sequestration in Farmland OVERVIEW We face a global and national Climate and Biodiversity Loss Emergency. The current direction of Irish agriculture is multiply unsustainable. In 2020 the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency highlighted issues facing Irish agriculture in the EPA submission to the AgriFood 2030 Strategy Committee: “Taking the sector as a whole, the economic growth in recent years is happening at the expense of the environment as witnessed by the trends in water quality, emissions and biodiversity all going in the wrong direction… Business as usual will not reverse these trends.” The EPA Director added: “In our view, this is a serious reputational risk for the agri-food sector in Ireland. Pending evidence and implementation of effective solutions to ongoing unsustainable air and water emissions, any plans for further intensification/expansion of the dairy herd would be difficult to sustain.” For this reason the 30-strong members of the Irish Environmental Pillar exited from representation on the AgriFood 2030 Committee. Investment and Legal Action Risk Current Irish dairy production and processing intensification is exposing the Irish family farms and the food processing sector to serious financial risk of investment assets becoming redundant. The two now rusting 15 year-old ESB owned and Bord na Mona supplied peat power plants in Counties Offaly and Longford present a warning to the Irish agriculture sector on the consequence of misdirected investment and ill-advised subsidy use.
    [Show full text]
  • The 'People's Movement'
    The ‘People’s Movement’ ‘EU Critical Action & Irish Social Activism’ Peter Lacey PhD. Anthropology and Development NUI Maynooth Department of Anthropology October 2013 Dr. Mark Maguire, Head of Department Dr. Chandana Mathur, Research Supervisor Abstract This thesis focuses on ‘EU critical’ social movement activity in Ireland through the lens of one social movement group against the backdrop of three referenda on European treaties over a four year period. I illustrate how grievances are produced and focus on the underlying factors which motivate individuals to engage in collective action against the European Union and its reform treaties. In addressing this issue, I provide an ethnographic account of a group of Irish activists called the ‘People’s Movement’ who campaigned against the introduction of the Treaty of Lisbon in Ireland and who subsequently challenged the European Fiscal Treaty. I examine how the People’s Movement organisation collectively engage with the EU, the State, civil society and other social movement actors in their struggle for recognition and to communicate the organisation’s message. My ethnographic research is undertaken with reference to broader contextual issues, such as modern social movements, globalisation, Europe, meaning and discourse. I illustrate how the main contentious issues being debated by Irish social activists on the streets of Dublin against EU reform resonate with global social activists. I contend that Irish left-wing social activism, as a micro-movement, forms part of a greater collective and a globally networked movement of modern protest against the discontents of global capitalism. Social activist struggles in Ireland against the introduction of the EU reform treaties, while local and national in its form, can be transnational and paradoxically ‘European’ in its nature.
    [Show full text]
  • Living Within Planetary Boundaries -The Safe and Just Space for the People of Europe
    Living within Planetary Boundaries -The Safe and Just Space for the People of Europe Environmental Pillar Consultation Response to: 7th Environmental Action Programme (7EAP) Consultation Consultation Response: May 2012 Environmental Pillar Submission to the National Climate Policy Development Consultation Contents INTRODUCTION TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL PILLAR – WHO ARE WE? ................................................................................. 3 TH 1. THE NEED FOR A STRONG 7 ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PROGRAMME – STEPPING BACK FROM THE LIMITS OF PLANETARY BOUNDARIES .................................................................................................................................................. 4 2. REDUCTION OF THE EU’S ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT TO MATCH ITS ECOLOGICAL RESOURCES ................................... 6 3. RECOGNISE, CONFIRM AND ACT WITHIN PLANETARY BOUNDARIES ......................................................................... 7 A. CLIMATE AND ENERGY ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 B. BIODIVERSITY AND SOIL ....................................................................................................................................................... 8 C. MARINE ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9 D. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH.................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Newsletter 2001-4
    INTERNATIONAL MIRE NEWSLETTER CONSERVATION GROUP issue 2001/4, December 2001 The International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) is an international network of specialists having a particular interest in mire and peatland conservation. The network encompasses a wide spectrum of expertise and interests, from research scientists to consultants, government agency specialists to peatland site managers. It operates largely through e-mail and newsletters, and holds regular workshops and symposia. For more information: consult the IMCG Website: http://www.imcg.net Editorial This is the last Newsletter of the enervating year 2001, in which major steps were taken in the organisation of IMCG and mire conservation in general. IMCG is now a registered organisation with many official members (incl. you?) and even a bank account. We have started the organisation of our 2002 meetings in France (cf. the programme, the call for resolutions and Main Board membership candidates, and the IMCG chairmanship discussion). The Global Action Plan for Peatlands was guided into safe Ramsar waters, the Wise Use project is getting in its final phase, and the Global Peatland Initiative is already paying off. You can read about all this in this Newsletter. This Newsletter also contains major papers on peatland occurrences in Amazonia, one of the large white spots on the global peatland map, on the sustainability of peat as fuel, and on the current conflict about peat fuelled electricity plants in Ireland. The latter invited article is a “view from the other side” in order to stimulate discussion and wise use thinking. The Irish Peatland Conservation Council did not manage to react before the deadline of this Newsletter; their view will follow in the next Newsletter.
    [Show full text]
  • Reflections on the Celtic Tiger
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Coulter, Colin (Ed.); Coleman, Steve (Ed.) Book — Published Version The end of Irish history? Reflections on the Celtic Tiger Provided in Cooperation with: Manchester University Press Suggested Citation: Coulter, Colin (Ed.); Coleman, Steve (Ed.) (2003) : The end of Irish history? Reflections on the Celtic Tiger, ISBN 978-0-7190-6230-8, Manchester University Press, Manchester, http://dx.doi.org/10.7228/manchester/9780719062308 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/181917 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative
    [Show full text]
  • The Problem with Alliances for the Anti- Fracking Movement on the Island of Ireland Orla Patricia Quinn
    THE PROBLEM WITH ALLIANCES FOR THE ANTI- FRACKING MOVEMENT ON THE ISLAND OF IRELAND ORLA PATRICIA QUINN Submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the MA in Community Education, Equality and Social Activism Departments of Adult and Community Education and Sociology National University of Ireland Maynooth 2014 Supervisor: Michael Murray 1 I’d like to thank the staff and my fellow students of CEESA for ayear of inspiring education with particular thanks to my supervisor(s) Theresa O’Keefe for the beginning of the thesis journey and to Michael Murray for the end of it. I’d especially like to thank my very patient & hugely supportive partner Alan (whom I owe a lot of quality time to since I robbed him of mine) and my dear family and friends who kept my spirits up when I hit lows. This has been a rewarding project and the process certainly doesn’t end here… 2 ABSTRACT This research looks at the role of alliances in the context of one of the largest collective struggles across the island of Ireland today, the anti-fracking movement. It presents the challenges facing communities directly opposing this new emerging industry and challenges them to critically reflect on their engagement with outside actors as they organise a collective opposition to it. This thesis explores how a green neo liberal hegemony controls the current ‘environmental movement’ driven by powerful elites; multinationals, the state and state actors, and official ‘environmentalism’. With these one-time allies now largely absent, combined with the growing threat of globalisation which ‘synergises’ power at the top to work against social movements, has this left the anti- fracking movement fighting the fracking battle alone? Drawing from the experiences ofanti- fracking campaigners from the North West, Belfast and Dublin, and outside activists from Ireland and Alberta, Canada, this research seeks to explore how building a broad ranging alliance at the grassroots of these very actors can produce the most effective resistance to corporate power.
    [Show full text]
  • F U N D I N G Environmental Non-Governmental
    Irish Environmental Network (IEN) FUNDING ENVIRONMENTAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN IRELAND by Brian Harvey December 2015 Irish Environmental Network (IEN) FUNDING ENVIRONMENTAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN IRELAND by Brian Harvey Brian Harvey Social Research 2 Rathdown crescent Terenure Dublin 6W, Ireland Tel 00 353 1 4903039 e-mail: [email protected] December 2015 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This is a study of the organizational situation of members of the Irish Environmental Network (IEN) over 2011-2015, set in an international context. Funding for Irish environmental Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) fell from €8.2m to €5.5m, down -32.3%. Full-time staff fell from 86 to 41, down -52.3%, while part-time staff rose +39%, scheme staff +129% and interns +38%, with the addition of new unpaid full and part-time staff as well as volunteers. There is a high level of voluntary contribution: the annual value of volunteer staff was €899,392 and full-time volunteers over €2.6m. The loss of 45 full-time posts is valued at €1.575m, with a Revenue loss of €312,075. This is an alarming process not only of defunding, but deprofessionalization, with the exit of skilled personnel, weakening environmental NGOs and making them less and less able to make a meaningful, expert contribution to environmental policy and practice. Overall, membership has fallen -6%. Members report that they find themselves in a vicious circle of declining funding, staffing and capacity, bringing them below a critical mass for effectiveness. Despite this, 85% of IEN members expect to expand their activities, 15% to stay the same.
    [Show full text]
  • Response to the Europe 2020 Strategy
    Environmental Pillar Response to the EU 2020 Strategy The Environmental Pillar of Social Partnership, Ireland Response to the Europe 2020 Strategy June 8 th 2010 Environmental Pillar Members: An Taisce, Bat Conservation Ireland, BirdWatch Ireland, CELT (Centre for Environmental Living and Training), Coastwatch, Coomhola Salmon Trust, Crann, ECO-UNESCO, FEASTA, Forest Friends , Friends of the Earth, Gluaiseacht, GRIAN, Hedge Laying Association of Ireland, Irish Doctors' Environmental Association (IDEA), Irish Natural Forestry Foundation, Irish Peatland Conservation Council, Irish Seal Sanctuary, Irish Seed Savers Association, Irish Whale & Dolphin Group, Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT), , Just Forests, Sonairte, Sustainable Ireland Cooperative (Cultivate), The Organic Centre, VOICE, Zero Waste Alliance Page 1 of 8 Environmental Pillar Response to the EU 2020 Strategy In his opening statement on the Strategy, José Manuel Barroso begins: “2010 must mark a new beginning. I want Europe to emerge stronger from the economic and financial crisis”. The Environmental Pillar agrees with this aspiration, but starts from a different premise, and has a very different understanding of what would constitute a stronger Europe. As with all crises there is an opportunity here for creative thinking, but this moment seems to have passed the 2020 Strategy by. Instead the Strategy tries to fix problems using the tools that brought on the crisis, and ignores the major environmental limits that are being pushed, and in the case of Carbon emissions exceeded, by the desire for continuous economic growth that underlies the Strategy. The EU 2020 Strategy as one of its aims aspires to put in place a policy framework for “a new sustainable social market economy, a smarter, greener economy, where our prosperity will come from innovation and from using resources better, and where the key input will be knowledge”.
    [Show full text]
  • Globalisation from Below?
    Globalisation from below? ‘‘Ordinary people’’, movements and intellectuals from Seattle to Genova to war (Paper to William Thompson Weekend School, Cork; May 2001) “Working-class revolutions … constantly criticise themselves, they continually interrupt their own course, return to what has apparently already been achieved to start it from scratch again. Cruelly and thoroughly they mock the shortcomings, weaknesses and pitiful nature of their first attempts; they seem to throw their opponent down, only for him to draw new strength from the earth and rise up once more against them, yet more gigantic than ever. They shrink back again and again in the face of the undetermined vastness of their own aims, until a situation has been created which makes any turning back impossible, and the conditions themselves cry out: “Hic Rhodus, hic salta! Here is the rose, dance here!” (Marx, 18th Brumaire (n.d.): 272-3) “Civilisation will win until its enemies learn from it the importance of the machine. The compact must endure until there is a counter-compact. Consider the ways of that form of foolishness which today we call nihilism or anarchy. A few illiterate bandits in a Paris slum defy the world, and in a week they are in jail. Half a dozen crazy Russian intellectuals in Geneva conspire to upset the Romanovs, and are hunted down by the police of Europe. All the Governments and their not very intelligent police forces join hands, and hey, presto! there is an end of the conspirators. For civilisation knows how to use such powers as it has, while the immense potentiality of the unlicensed is dissipated in vapour.
    [Show full text]