David W. Kidner's Nature and Psyche: Radical Environmentalism and the Politics of Subjectivity
The metaphor of resonance is a fundamentally integrative notion, since resonances occur between things, expressing relation rather than independence, interaction rather than autonomy, and dynamism rather than stagnation, as in Michael Taussig’s (The Devil and Commodity Fetishism, 167-168) depiction of Aymara culture:
The enchantment of nature and the alliance of its spirits with mankind form an organic resonance of orchestrated social representation. The organization of kith and kin, political organization, use of ecosphere, healing, the rhythm of production and reproduction—all echo each other within one living structure that is the language of the magical landscape. (305)
Showing posts with label David D. Kidner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David D. Kidner. Show all posts
Monday, 25 July 2011
Sunday, 24 July 2011
A Positive Vision
David D. Kidner's Nature and Psyche: Radical Environmentalism and the Politics of Subjectivity
A positive vision of a future natural world contributes to our own psychological survival. Joanna Macy has written of the despair frequently experienced by environmental activism, a despair that is entirely authentic and understandable given the speed with which the natural order is being demolished, and our apparent powerlessness when faced with overwhelmingly powerful interests. However, as Erik Erikson pointed out, one cannot adequately define one's sense of identity by what one is not. While promoting a positive vision integrates and heals one, devoting one's life purely to opposing what one is against is an act of nihilism in which the culmination of one's own success is self-destruction. (285)
A positive vision of a future natural world contributes to our own psychological survival. Joanna Macy has written of the despair frequently experienced by environmental activism, a despair that is entirely authentic and understandable given the speed with which the natural order is being demolished, and our apparent powerlessness when faced with overwhelmingly powerful interests. However, as Erik Erikson pointed out, one cannot adequately define one's sense of identity by what one is not. While promoting a positive vision integrates and heals one, devoting one's life purely to opposing what one is against is an act of nihilism in which the culmination of one's own success is self-destruction. (285)
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