Ireland Flannery, Ellen Richards, Kyle Mezrahi, and Jaime Monsher
Introduction
Conservatism is an ideology that looks at the past as a foundation for approaching present issues. Conservatism is used in a variety of contexts, such as political and social philosophy. In the context of environmentalism, conservatism, “an orientation toward the past[,] is an understandable response to the relentless change, disruption, and uncertainties of modernity (Berman 1983; Bauman 2000; Inglehart and Baker 2000)” (“Time” 2017).
Context
Conservatism is an ideology that describes movement and evaluative-based ideologies. According to the Ecotypes survey (“Time” 2017), the emphasis on conservatism also ties in with a view of nature as pure. While a conservative view of environmentalism looks to the pure nature of the past as an example, progressive environmentalism incorporates a more hybrid view of nature, encompassing a more technophilic view. It is important to note the difference between political conservatism and temporal conservatism. In the following critique we will focus primarily on the temporal form of conservatism, as a way of emphasizing the past for environmental decisions and changes. Most authors writing about conservatism in an environmental sense are discussing political conservatism rather than conservatism in the temporal sense. However, many of the ideas included in political conservatism are also demonstrated in temporal conservatism, as they share some basic tenants.
The ideology of environmental conservatism was first used in the late 1950s, as demonstrated in Figure 1 (“Google Ngram Viewer” 2017). This may be the result of an increase in environmental disasters, such as the the Great Fog in London (“Environmentalism” 2017), which was publicized as one of the first environmental catastrophes. Since then, the use of the term has increased rapidly, albeit with substantial falls (see Figure 1). This is most likely due to rises and falls in interest in environmentalism and a desire to return to a pure view of nature.
Figure 1: Google Ngram Viewer for the phrase environmental conservatism in literature. (“Google Ngram Viewer” 2017)
While the idea of conservatism has been discussed in terms of environmentalism, it is often still tied to the political sphere of the ideology. Two authors who discuss conservatism in their work are Kieron O’Hara and Roger Scruton. O’Hara describes conservatism as an “idea that problematizes change” (O’Hara and Willetts 2011), which fits in with the idea of conservatism as viewing the past as pure. Leigh Phillips provides one critique of the conservative point of view in light of environmentalism, as well as pure nature, in his text, Austerity Ecology & the Collapse-Porn Addicts that will later be discussed in more depth.
Critique
When thinking about the environment in regard to time, the majority leans towards a progressive, future oriented point of view in which it is believed that realties and institutions will improve over time (“Time” 2017). Although a conservative perspective is not popular among many environmentalists, it provides insight to what the past has to offer to our current issues. Looking back to a time when nature was pure can motivate us to try to return to this time. Roger Scruton is among the few scholars to speak on environmental issues with a conservative lens in which the past is viewed as something we should return to. He argues that proposing large-scale environmental projects, that demand too much change, will not succeed if it they are not established in small-scale practical reasoning. Here is where Scruton’s argument for conservatism becomes entangled in the scale ecotypes axis, which asks whether individual or institutionalized action is needed. Despite the fact that many scholars believe that individual responsibility towards the environment is insufficient, Scruton argues that when issues are passed to the government, we lose control of them. With a orientation focusing on the past, a conservative mindset allows people to reflect on their actions and become more responsible, therefore giving us the opportunity to solve these problems in our everyday lives. He suggests that returning to a pure view of the Earth as our home is necessary. When people begin to view their surroundings as their home, they are more likely to treat it better. And this all starts from looking to the past rather than focusing on the future. Instead of creating grand scale solutions that the government and big companies will fail to achieve, we must look into ourselves and our past decisions to see how we can change our actions to protect our home and make it pure again. Too often we blame the issue of the deteriorating environment on others, but a conservative point of view requires that we place the cost of our own actions onto ourselves rather than others or future generations. As a result, Scruton’s conservatism demands people’s involvement in environmental issues rather than just politicians and scientists (Scruton 2012).
Despite the fact that Scruton makes a strong case for a conservative perspective, there are too many weaknesses that prevent it from being an ideology that we should all accept. The idea of looking onto our past actions and taking responsibility is reasonable, however it is not enough to combat the issues of the ever-changing state of the world. Many scholars would agree that the government and big companies need to be held more responsible, but in order to pressure them into do so, it is necessary for us to demand institutional change rather than attempting to make small individual changes.
In order for environmental reform to take positive hold, not all of our thinking should come from the past. Conservatism is not popular among environmentalists, but it is popular among those who are not negatively affected by climate change. One problem with conservatism is that people view the past as the sole example for future change. Forbes contributor Tim Worstall states that “the advancing technologies of low or non-carbon energy generation will take care of [climate change] for us” (Worstall 2017). Worstall believes that since there have not been noticeable changes in regards to our climate in the recent past, it is not a major concern.
Suggesting that we should return to the past when nature was pure is invalid because there is no time period that people universally want to go back to. Leigh Phillips further this idea of ambiguous time in regard to consumerism when he asks “when was it exactly that humans enjoyed the ‘correct’ or sufficient standard of living?” (Phillips 2015). Rather than using the past as a single example to dictate future success, we should focus on future change through innovative thought.
Conclusion
Conservatism revolves around its relationship to the past. Conservatism views nature in the past as pure, and aims to to return to that. Roger Scruton believed that the people should look to their past actions and lead the fight in combating global climate change, rather than government organizations. Although it is very empowering, saying that individuals can fight such a big concept is not as possible as one would think.
One can’t help but compare the beliefs of conservatism and its focus on the past to Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign. A problem with both is that there is not a specific time to be harkened back to. Conservatism is too idealistic; it is not practical enough to achieve change. Additionally, there is not much literature on temporal conservatism, which is problematic for a viewpoint that centers itself on it.