‘What if trees could see the stars?’ How the phenomenological experiencing of nature can (or cannot) contribute to fostering social and environmental justice by affecting capitalist patterns of thinking around nature.
(2016) HEKM50 20161Human Ecology
Department of Human Geography
- Abstract
- In line with the Capitalocene narrative, this thesis argues how globally prevailing social* and environmental injustices (including ecological injustices) are driven by systemic capitalist patterns of thinking. In order to enhance social* and environmental justice, it seems thus essential to tackle these. However, there does not yet exist an analytical framework providing a comprehensive overview of the range of capitalist patterns of thinking. Acknowledging this, I raise the question whether it would be meaningful to tackle capitalist patterns of thinking around nature in which nature is regarded as no more than a resource (as ‘capital’) — a view on nature which legitimises the growth-driven extraction of natural resources, a view without... (More)
- In line with the Capitalocene narrative, this thesis argues how globally prevailing social* and environmental injustices (including ecological injustices) are driven by systemic capitalist patterns of thinking. In order to enhance social* and environmental justice, it seems thus essential to tackle these. However, there does not yet exist an analytical framework providing a comprehensive overview of the range of capitalist patterns of thinking. Acknowledging this, I raise the question whether it would be meaningful to tackle capitalist patterns of thinking around nature in which nature is regarded as no more than a resource (as ‘capital’) — a view on nature which legitimises the growth-driven extraction of natural resources, a view without which the capitalist dynamics underlying social* and environmental injustices would lose their material fuel.
The theoretical part of this thesis draws on ethnographic fieldwork methodology to explore the potential of one particular approach —the phenomenological experiencing of nature as taught at Schumacher College, UK— to shifting people’s patterns of thinking around nature in a way that they interfere with the capitalist logic, and hence the potential of this approach to contribute to enhancing social* and environmental justice. The collected fieldwork data reveal that this approach has the potential to affect people’s nature-related patterns of thinking in ways that conflict with the capitalist view on nature, as well as the potential to enkindle a sense of care for other-than-humans that is translated into actions of care for local other-than-humans. Yet, the data also show that this approach does not have the potential to raise awareness about other-than-humans (and humans) in remote ‘shadow places’ with poor living conditions created through capitalist dynamics, and hence does not have the potential to enkindle actions aiming at taking care of such beings — actions that might have the potential to contribute to fostering social* and environmental justice. For the potential of this approach to unfold for the benefit of social* and environmental justice, I conclude that it is imperative to politicise it by embedding it in activities raising awareness about capitalist dynamics and the shadow places they create. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8892427
- author
- Klöppel, Lea LU
- supervisor
-
- Alf Hornborg LU
- organization
- course
- HEKM50 20161
- year
- 2016
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Capitalocene, social and environmental justice, ecological justice, capitalism, systemic patterns of thinking, phenomenology, human/nature dualism, nature as capital
- language
- English
- id
- 8892427
- date added to LUP
- 2017-05-22 14:32:40
- date last changed
- 2017-05-22 14:32:40
@misc{8892427,
abstract = {{In line with the Capitalocene narrative, this thesis argues how globally prevailing social* and environmental injustices (including ecological injustices) are driven by systemic capitalist patterns of thinking. In order to enhance social* and environmental justice, it seems thus essential to tackle these. However, there does not yet exist an analytical framework providing a comprehensive overview of the range of capitalist patterns of thinking. Acknowledging this, I raise the question whether it would be meaningful to tackle capitalist patterns of thinking around nature in which nature is regarded as no more than a resource (as ‘capital’) — a view on nature which legitimises the growth-driven extraction of natural resources, a view without which the capitalist dynamics underlying social* and environmental injustices would lose their material fuel.
The theoretical part of this thesis draws on ethnographic fieldwork methodology to explore the potential of one particular approach —the phenomenological experiencing of nature as taught at Schumacher College, UK— to shifting people’s patterns of thinking around nature in a way that they interfere with the capitalist logic, and hence the potential of this approach to contribute to enhancing social* and environmental justice. The collected fieldwork data reveal that this approach has the potential to affect people’s nature-related patterns of thinking in ways that conflict with the capitalist view on nature, as well as the potential to enkindle a sense of care for other-than-humans that is translated into actions of care for local other-than-humans. Yet, the data also show that this approach does not have the potential to raise awareness about other-than-humans (and humans) in remote ‘shadow places’ with poor living conditions created through capitalist dynamics, and hence does not have the potential to enkindle actions aiming at taking care of such beings — actions that might have the potential to contribute to fostering social* and environmental justice. For the potential of this approach to unfold for the benefit of social* and environmental justice, I conclude that it is imperative to politicise it by embedding it in activities raising awareness about capitalist dynamics and the shadow places they create.}},
author = {{Klöppel, Lea}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{‘What if trees could see the stars?’ How the phenomenological experiencing of nature can (or cannot) contribute to fostering social and environmental justice by affecting capitalist patterns of thinking around nature.}},
year = {{2016}},
}