A
MANIFESTO FOR
THE ECOLOGICAL HUMANITIES
Re-threading
the Fabric of Knowledge
The Ecological Humanities aims to traverse the great divides between
the sciences and the humanities, and between western and other ways
of knowing nature. Our commitment arises from an historical sequence:
Enlightenment / Modernity: pulled the sciences and humanities
apart, and developed the view that each can be fully separate from
the other. The process facilitated other western divides, particularly
mind/matter: the idea that humanity is separate from the natural
world.
Post-modernity: gave us analytic tools for understanding
how arbitrary are the separations of modernity, and for assessing
the power relations they support.
Re-threading the Fabric: seeks to overcome arbitrary separations:
building bridges, analysing ethics and values, developing moral
action in relation to the 'natural' world.
Our work is motivated by:
Curiosity: our desire to gain more complex understandings
of the world we live in.
Crisis: our sense of the uncertainty of our current ecological
situation.
Concern: our desire to participate actively in averting
crisis.
Collaboration: our desire to engage with scholars and other
experts from a diversity of cultures and traditions.
The Ecological Humanities endeavour is committed
to cultural, biological, and academic diversity, all of which are
necessary for -
sustainable
futures for flourishing life on earth
Further information: Libby
Robin/Deborah Rose
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