An introduction to "bioregionalism," the philosophy at the heart of
the worldwide movement of ecological politics known by the
sobriquet "Green." Bioregionalists, like most environmentalists,
use the language of ecology to deplore the current state of the
environment and contend that modern technology - the megacity,
nuclear power, etc. - have put a vast psychic distance between
people and the natural world. Where they part ways with
conventional environmentalism is in the belief that federal
regulation, presidential dispensation and other band-aid approaches
imposed from above cannot avert the coming ecological crisis;
nothing short of a cognitive shift will suffice. The scientific
world view that has ruled the Western mind since the Renaissance
must be dethroned by an ecological one which puts technology at the
behest of nature rather than at loggerheads with it. Slowly but
inexorably, through grass-roots efforts to make humans more
sensitive to their "bioregions" - the natural geographic regions
defined by their flora and fauna, landforms and watersheds - a new
way of economic, cultural and political life would evolve. Though
Sale does a good job of describing the broad outlines of the
bioregional concept, he's less adept at exploring its implications:
How, exactly, would an economy based not on simple-minded growth
but rather biological sustainability through self-reliant
bioregions operate? And why has the Green movement blossomed in
places like Germany but not here, when much of the groundwork for
"steady state" economics, for instance, has been laid by American
economists like Herman Daly? All this sounds hopelessly utopian,
but Sale claims it is rooted in historical realities and "patterns
of the present," such as regional planning and local cuisine and
the belief in self-reliance and town-meeting democracy at the heart
of traditional American, or at least Jeffersonian, values. Anyone
interested in the arcane eddies of environmental thought will find
this a serviceable first stab at an American Green manifesto.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Imagine a world structured around ecological and cultural
diversity, rather than national and political parameters. In
response to present and impending ecological and economic crises,
Kirkpatrick Sale offers a definitive introduction to the unique
concept of bioregionalism, an alternative way of organizing society
to create smaller scale, more ecologically sound, individually
responsive communities with renewable economies and cultures. He
emphasizes, among many other factors, the concept of regionalism
through natural population division, settlement near and
stewardship of watershed areas, and the importance of communal
ownership of and responsibility for the land. "Dwellers in the
Land" focuses on the realistic development of these bioregionally
focused communities and the places where they are established to
create a society that is both ecologically sustainable and
satisfying to its inhabitants.
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