Looking back over my previous three posts, it is hard to find a definite pattern. Each post is intricately weaved with the complicated ideas in the books we read and the philosophies from class. I jump from institutional to individual action, systems that harm and solve our environments, challenging classic environmental thought, and much more. I will not try to synthesis the web I have created, but I will touch on the topics that grasped me the most, the actions I will carry with me and the hopes I wish to move forward with.
To some extent, I think all of us who are interested in environmental studies at some point have a shiny object pre-framework phase. I will admit, I love kombucha, farmers’ markets, and reading books by Michael Pollan. I had rose tinted glasses and was proud every time I brought my canvas bag to the grocery store or market to get organic food. Through time I have moved away from that pre-framework, but the content of this class, I believe, has brought me to a contemporary framework in a situated approach. I know at times when I have complicated and mixed subjects, I want other people to be there with me, but we are all somewhere in this journey of understanding. Thus, the first practice I will carry with me from ENVS 160 is to acknowledge we are all on a continuum of coming to terms with environmental pre-frameworks and frameworks. This brings me to my next practice, where my own shiny object obsession of acting local will not stop, but be augmented by acting more vertically.
In both Austerity Ecology by Leigh Phillips (2015) and Who Rules the Earth by Paul Steinberg (2015) they tore apart the idea of “think global, act local”. I was and maybe still am pessimistic about making larger institutional change due to the immense process, but with the critiques both of these authors offered, I realized that patting ourselves on the back about bringing a bag to the grocery store and buying carrots from the farm down the road, does not get us off the hook for striving to make bigger change. I do not want to feel good about one small thing and use it as an excuse to not push for more. And, I realized that through Steinberg’s words, “The old adage to think globally and act locally is just plain wrong. It is far too simplistic in its portrayal of the sources of environmental problems and the solutions at our disposal. We need to think and act at multiple levels if we are to make progress on vexing social and environmental problems” (Steinberg 2015, 163). Therefore, my second practice is to not let small actions hinder my larger desires.
That being said, one quote from Who Rules the Earth has always stuck out to me. Even after he dives into praising and tearing institutions and environmental thought, he turns to say “It is a matter of balance, contemplating these everyday acts of individual conscience with larger actions that promote social change” (Steinberg 2015, 278). So, maybe it is about striking a point between shiny objects and chaos pre-framework philosophy. Therefore, my final practice will not be to hinder my love for kombucha and farmers’ markets but to just bring more the picture.
Works Cited
Phillips, Leigh. 2015. Austerity Ecology & the Collapse-porn Addicts : A Defence of Growth, Progress, Industry and Stuff. Winchester, UK ; Washington, USA: Zero Books.
Steinberg, Paul F. 2015. Who Rules the Earth? : How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.