STS 210 - Final Exam

Modernism?

Says nature is a big mechanism that can be explained by Res Cognitans and Res Extensa

Res Cognitans?

The non-physical thanking substance that is distinct from the world of matter

Res Extensa?

The physical world that is separate from the mind

How does Judeo-Christianity spur on the environmental crisis (Lynn White)?

Says God is the only sacred thing and because it doesn’t exist on Earth, the Earth isn’t sacred; also an emphasis on gnosticism, logocentrism and progressive narratives

What is the reason behind the environmental crisis according to Paul Shepard?

Rejection of human nature, biology and animality as a whole in Western culture, humanity views the Neolithic Rev as the birth of our humanity when in reality it was hunter-gathering

Seventh generation amendment?

Way of situating yourself by thinking 7 generations ahead and behind

Murray Bookchin’s issues with deep ecology?

It is misanthropic in nature, calls for an extermination of humans; says it fails to link the environmental crisis with authoritarianism, fails to recognize potential of humans

Dave Foreman?

Started the Earth First movement which used extreme monkeywrenching tactics as a form of protest for the environmental crisis; seen as leader of deep ecology

How is nature pigeonholed by man (Paul Shepard)?

It is made in mans image through our language and science (which doesn’t promote the respect of nature)

How can ecological thinking exist in current time/space?

Must confront our philosophical problems of the meaning of man

How did exploitation of nature begin (Lynn White)?

With humanity’s shift towards agriculture, everything was informed by religion which meant the dominance of man over nature

Why does environmental destruction unequivocally affect Indigenous people (Winona LaDuke)?

The environment is intertwined with their identity, the loss they feel is both personal and cultural

Bresette’s application of seventh generation amendment to the US constitution?

Curbing corporate power, legal protections for the commons, long-term responsibility

Minobimaatisiiwin?

Living the good life in the context of happiness and cultural teachings

In what way is society oil addicts (Winona LaDuke)?

We constantly justify our increased efforts to extract because we lack perspective for other ways to meet our energy demands

Ecofeminism (Karen Warren)?

Refers to the connections between the domination of women and nature

Difference between solidarity and unity?

Unity refers to sameness between members in a group whereas solidarity is where people meet where they are for a common goal

Framework of ecofeminism?

Value-hierarchal thinking, value-dualisms, logic of domination

Deconstruction (Jacques Derrida)?

Process of exploring the concepts of tradition that has been imposed on things, derived from structuralism

Structuralism?

Meanings of words/signs is dependent on the relationship between the signified and signifier

Sexual Politics of Meat (Carol Adams)?

Makes the visual comparison between advertised meat and the portrayal of women in magazines (absent referent or hidden from awareness)

Gerda Lerner vs Andree Collard?

Lerner says that the patriarchy emerged with war/agriculture while Collard says it emerged when men began hunting

Cultural vs radical feminists?

Cultural says the relationship between women and nature is positive (allows us to be sensitive), radical says the relationship is negative

Cyborg feminism (Donna Haraway)?

Says women should be identified as technology because of our essential differences from men

Why do men resist green behaviour?

It is considered unmanly

Don’t mess with Texas campaign?

Originally for anti-littering but was extremely successful in its message, can be applied to male resistance towards green behaviour

Populism?

Framework that represents the political opposition between the people and its oppressive other, people are held together by master/empty signifiers

Master signifier of blue collar workers?

Hard work

Who was the oppressor in the eyes of the freedom convoy?

Justin Trudeau

New elites vs new commoners?

Elites are university-educated, marginalized feminists while commoners are the blue-collar workers

Frontier masculinity?

Represented by the cowboy, associated with rural work outside of civilized values

Just Transition?

A framework for a fair/sustainable shift to a low carbon economy through retraining oil workers, investment in green jobs, etc

What is the key to the dual oppression of both women and nature according to Val Plumwood?

Western focus on rationalism

Relational self?

Where someone is both related and independent in their identity, connected to everything without being a hivemind

Val Plumwood critiques of deep ecology?

Obliterates all distinction, expanded self is an extension of egoism, connection to the cosmos cannot attach us to nature

What is Val Plumwood against?

Thinking of the environment as being embedded in a human-based ETHICAL attitude (should focus on emotion), rights-based ethics (animal-rights) and Western separation from nature

Troubles with the concept of wilderness?

It’s a cultural construction, ejection of Indigenous populations, flight from history, unworked landscape is a dream of people who don’t work it

Cultural construction of wilderness?

Invented by European settlers who said the terrifying appeal of nature was due to god showing his power

Central paradox of wilderness?

The idea that wilderness is a place where humans are not but people have always worked the land (nature and people exist separately)

How was wilderness viewed in the 18th century (Cronen)?

Biblically represented as a place of spiritual danger that can only gain value if it was reclaimed

How was the 18th century view of wilderness inverted (Cronen)?

Through the rise of conservationism through the convergence of the sublime and the idea of the frontier (preservation of origins)

How does the idea of wilderness supply male individualism (Cronen)?

The idea of rich, bored men returning to their roots to escape the throes of civilization

What does the dualistic vision of wilderness cause (Cronen)?

Erasure of history (idea of uninhabited) and flight from responsibility for the institutions we partake in

How does the construction of wilderness affect environmentalism (Cronen)?

Creates conservation paradoxes, the idea that humans need to be exterminated and ignores cultural imperialism

Cronen solution?

Seek an environmental ethic in the middle ground where the idea of home is in focus

How is nature symbolically constructed (Peterson)?

All cultures have a different interpretation of nature, there is no universal idea

How is nature physically constructed (Peterson)?

We have physically changed nature through climate, can point towards nature as fully a cultural product

Benefits of recognizing constructionism?

Highlights diversity, allows the consideration of cultural attitudes, guards against reifying human construction, challenges erasure of Indigenous people, differentiates between practices

Strong constructionism?

The idea that nature is only important because of it’s connection to humans

Dangers of strong constructionism?

Reinforces dualism, hard to judge different environmentalisms, justifies harmful intervention, dismisses loss of environment, ignores non-human value

Constrained constructionism?

Says non-human entities have value outside of our construction of them, we should view nature through an ontology of dwelling