Political nature: environmentalism and the interpretation of Western thought

225 Pages·2001·0.69 MB·English

by  John M. Meyer

Political Nature
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Political Nature
Environmentalism and the Interpretation of
Western Thought
John M. Meyer
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
2001MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformbyany
electronicormechanicalmeans(includingphotocopying,recording,orinforma-
tionstorageandretrieval)without permissioninwriting fromthepublisher.
This book was set in Sabon by Achorn Graphic Services, Inc., on the Miles 33
system.
Printed andboundintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Meyer, JohnM.
Political nature : environmentalism and the interpretation of Western
thought/JohnM.Meyer.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-262-13390-3(hc.:alk.paper)—ISBN0-262-63224-1(pbk.:alk.
paper)
1.Politicalecology.2.Environmentalism.I.Title.
JA75.8.M492001
320.5—dc21
2001030459
To Carolyn
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Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 Introduction 1
I Future and Past 19
2 Worldviews and the Evasion of Politics in Environmentalist
Thought 21
3 Searching for Roots: Environmentalist Interpretations of the
History of Western Thought 35
II Rethinking Nature in Political Theory 55
4 Mechanical Nature and Modern Politics: The System of Thomas
Hobbes 57
5 Natural Ends and Political Naturalism? Understanding
Aristotle 89
III Political Nature 119
6 Nature, Politics, and the Experience of Place 121
7 New Possibilities for Environmental Politics 143
Notes 157
Bibliography 185
Index 205
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Preface
I worked as a political organizer for the six years prior to my graduate
studies, often addressing environmental issues. Among the necessities of
thisactivismaretheobligationtodevelopstrategies,torespondtooppo-
sition quickly, to shore up support for proposals, and to maintain one’s
own confidence—and the confidence of others—in the face of a daily
whirlwindofactivity.Broaderinsightintowherewearegoingandwhere
we want to go can be fostered in this atmosphere, but I also found that
it can be stifled by the lack of opportunity for reflection.
Ireenteredtheacademyinsearchofthisopportunityandwithasense
that our human relationship with the natural environment is of funda-
mental importance to our social and political values. I immersed myself
in the study of both political theory and environmental ideas. As I read
historical and contemporary literature in political theory, I searched for
insightintohuman-environmentrelations.Inonesense,notsurprisingly,
Ifoundlittle.Environmentalconcernsasweunderstandthemtodayhave
not played a major role in Western political thought. In another sense,
however, it became increasingly apparent that the argumentative strate-
giesbywhichvarioustheoristshavesoughttorelateideasabout“nature”
totheirpoliticalvision wereofgreatrelevance.Ifoundmyselfprodding
theseconnectionstobetterunderstandtherelationship.WhileoftenIdid
not embrace these views, I discovered in them the source for reflection
that I had sought.
Myinitialexaminationofwritingsbycontemporaryenvironmentalist
thinkers prompted a different response. Here I often shared sentiments
andunderlyingconcerns,yetfoundjournalssuchasEnvironmentalEth-
ics and many books in the field to be weighed down with attempts to