ENVS 350
Theory, especially as applied to Environmental Studies, guides and challenges the practice within a study. As a small class, we have toyed with the concepts and rhetoric of theories, or "Big Words," in order to inform our individual projects and research, as well as to help in the beginnings of a book manuscript on environmental theory, written by Jim Proctor. As theory tends to be abstract and general in nature, I have written a collection of posts to organize my thoughts and reflect on the topics we have covered, as well as to provide additional content to individual research.
Over the course of the semester, we looked at big words in different contexts in order to break them down. In order to do so, we have studied different uses of theories in current news, such as "the people" in the Malheur Occupation, and strategic essentialism in Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Grounding theory in space/place and real-world scenarios better allows us to see how the theory works well, and where it breaks down. These situated approaches have also given us opportunities to study big words like nature, science, utopias, and more through reality, knowledge, ethics, and politics.
Our four frameworks of study are akin to the four types of questions that we use to understand situated research: descriptive, explanatory, evaluative, and instrumental. All four (of both frameworks and questions), can be used individually to understand certain aspects, and then as a unit to balance out each component. Using these tools, we observed and critiqued environmental theory in action during a field trip to Douglas County (southern Oregon). Using a combination of reality, knowledge, ethics, and politics, I researched how privilege perspectives of knowledge can be oppressive through the focus question, "how have environmental policies affected Douglas County?" In order to check out my poster (presented at Festival of Scholars 2016) and some posts with further content, check out the landing page of my praxis project.
As a final culmination of big words and environmental theory, each student in our class chose a big word to break down, critique, and potentially provide a new way to understand that word/theory or a better big word to replace it. I critiqued identity as a big word, suggesting through binaries, facts, eci-topias, and sustainability that the word does needs to be reconsidered in order to count beyond two. I suggest an understanding of identity through the framework of globalization, which includes a collection of nodes and networks and networks. Using the metaphor for identity allows whole and partial identities to be connected and assembled as a framework rather than a truth of an individual, group, etc.
Related Posts
Politics and Identity
In Portland, sustainability is an important identity of the city and many of the inhabitants. The city brands itself as a bike-friendly, commutable, and most importantly, sustainable and green city. The branding technique has worked well, as the city has been bombarded with new residents in the last few years. The city is often portrayed […]
Ethics and Identity
While reality often deals with nature versus culture, and knowledge with matter versus mind, ethics deals with the binaries of fact versus value. The values that are developed by people are often created as a response to facts, or in spite of them. It can be difficult to describe, define, or contain values in a […]
Knowledge and Identity
Knowledge I am looking at knowledge as a way to understand identity, both of self and others. At first I was not sure if this applied, because identity is so subjective, but then I realized that knowledge is also subjective. Taking the science wars for example, knowing what information is considered knowledge and where/what important knowledge […]
Binaries of Identity
Reality One very straightforward binary of identity that relates to reality is that of identity that you are born with, versus that which you develop yourself. Many can and do call this a natural identity; gender, race, and sexual orientation are often referred to as natural and choosing one of these identities that you were not […]
Identity: What I Call Myself and What You Call Me
I was originally thinking that I would be interested in studying Nature as a big word, but for some reason couldn’t find a way to connect with it in the way that I wanted. After a little bit of thinking, I realized there was a way for me to connect with it, and a lot […]