I hope you will hear me out, though.
I established NativeNet just over three years ago due to a profound
personal experience which resulted from my attendance at a weekend con-
ference at Smith College in western Massachusetts ("From the Arctic to
Amazonia: Industrial Nations' Exploitation of Indigenous Peoples' Land")
at which representatives of indigenous peoples from all over the planet
spoke about the loss of their home territories and the lives and cultures
of their people as a result of the colonial adventures of European powers.
One result of that conference was the demonstration of the inseparability
of the consideration of global environmental problems from that of the
survival of traditional indigenous cultures and of the people who give
them their substance.
The following article, which I have posted in substantiallly the same form
to a few Usenet newsgroups (sci.environment, sci.psychology and talk.envi-
ronment), provides, I think, a good basis for talking about this issue at
a deeper level than mere political rhetoric. In my attendance at subse-
quent conferences dealing with the rights and problems of Native peoples,
I have been extremely impressed by the constant theme of the importance of
spiritual values, usually in the form of traditional ceremonies. There
is a strong connection for indigenous people who hold to their traditions
between themselves and the natural world. There is an ethic of great
respect for all of physical creation, and what appears to be a direct
experiential belief that the material and the spiritual are interwoven
with one another. I think this article is one possible entry point to an
important discussion which I feel the world community needs desparately to
undertake very soon if we are to have any chance of averting disaster on a
scale that is truly unimaginable.
I can only indicate the vaguest outline at the present time of the elements
of the discussion which I sense is needed - but I think the following article
might provide a first step in that direction. (Another article in the same
issue of the newsletter from which I obtained this article takes yet another
step; I hope to be able to present at least portions of that article at a
later time.)
I offer the following article without further comment at present, leaving the
reader to form his or her own impressions. As I say, I am sure some readers
will fail to see the connection to our subject of Native peoples. The connec-
tion is a very strong one for me, but it would take a fair amount of discus-
sion to demonstrate it for those who do not see it immediately. Perhaps our
subsequent dialogue will bring out the possible connections.
Speaking of dialogue, now that we have the NATCHAT mailing list (which is
linked with the "alt.native" newsgroup on Usenet), all discussion is to be
sent only to that list. I am posting this article to NATIVE-L only to give
an opportunity to those of you who are not also subscribers to NATCHAT an
opportunity to subscribe, so that you may take part in the discussion if you
wish. To subscribe, send a message to "listserv@tamvm1.tamu.edu" (that's
TAMVM1 - the last letter is the numeral ONE) or "listserv@tamvm1.bitnet" (or
just "LISTSERV AT TAMVM1" for Bitnet subscribers):
subscribe natchat Firstname Lastname
(where "Firstname Lastname" is replaced by your given name - *not* your email
address). The confirmation message you receive will give instructions for
unsubscribing.
If you want to take part in the discussion, please send your article to the
address "nn.chat@gnosys.svle.ma.us"
I realize there is much in the following article that makes it sound like
just so much more sentimental poetic eco-liberal rhetoric. However, being
familiar with some of what the author has written elsewhere, and knowing a
bit more about the organization in whose newsletter it was published, I tend
to feel there's a lot more to it, as the other article I to which I referred
makes more clear. I hope at least that it will cause you to ponder for a
moment the relationship between our environmental dilemma and the conceptions
we have of ourselves, which can be seen as a primarily psychological matter.
If you will, go on to consider how our self-imaginings are a product of our
own cultures, which are, for the most part, dominated in the present age by
industrial systems and the mentality they promulgate as an almost unconscious
byproduct of their operation. Try to imagine other ways of looking our world,
in which such pragmatic considerations are not primary, and in which there is
a greater sense of balance. Perhaps that exercise can help you understand my
own sense of the challenge that lies before us.
I look forward to our dialogue.
Gary
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In today's U.S. snail-mail, I received a copy of the latest issue of the
newletter of the Center for Psychology and Social Change (formerly known
as the Center for Psychological Studies in the Nuclear Age). I find the
article thoughtful and well-done, and hope that it might serve to stimulate
further discussion on the topic.
The newsletter is called _Center Review_ [Vol 6, No. 2 - Fall 1992]. Contact
information for CPSC is given at the end of the present article.
Theodore Roszak is the author of a number well-known books, including
_The Making of the Counterculture_ and _Person/Planet_. He teaches at
the California State University campus in Hayward, California, I believe.
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Ecopsychology: The Birth of a New Profession
by Theodore Roszak
In the post-Earth Summit era it is becoming clear that the environmental
movement will have to find a new way forward if it is to achieve its ambi-
tious agenda for change. The Earth Summit succeeded in clearly establish-
ing one fact: We are all--literally all--in one planetary boat. The liv-
ing standard of the rich has been maintained largely off natural resources,
labor, and the unwilling compliance of the poor. Now the poor demand their
share, and we see that there is no benefit the rich nations enjoy that poor
nations cannot deny them or destroy by the reckless "development" of their
resources.
Unique in human affairs, environmentalism is a movement whose audience is a
global Symposium of the Whole; it must address itself to all people, must
persuade all listeners. There is no one environmentalists can afford *not*
to be on speaking terms with, from the bureaucrats in suits who make far-
reaching decisions in the metropolitan centers to the earth's indigenous <--
peoples. Needless to add, the dialogue must even (especially?) include the <--
nonhuman realm that now is making its ethical and empathic claim. Yet,
despite the scope and urgency of the crisis, the movement's familiar rhe-
toric of shock-and-shame shows signs of being less and less productive.
"Green guilt" has lost its ethical sting; in its place is a growing anti-
environmental backlash in the developed countries that identifies ecolo-
gists as bullying prophets of doom.
It is time for the movement to draw up a psychological impact statement.
It must find a way to connect with what is generous, joyous, freely given,
and noble in people everywhere and at all levels. It must touch that eco-
logical depth of the human personality that is reborn to us in the spon-
taneous experience of children, in the great art of all ages, in the lore <--
of indigenous people. <--
But where is the movement to turn to find the new psychological paradigm it
needs? The psychiatric mainstream of contemporary society has little to
teach us about our place in the natural environment; it is as alienated
from the living planet as the rest of our society. Its role for genera-
tions has been to soothe the anguish of the urban-industrial psyche.
*Psychology needs ecology; ecology needs psychology.* From this partner-
ship a new profession can be born: an ecopsychology that combines the sen-
sitivity of the therapist with the expertise of the ecologist. The value
of such a new body of professionals reaches well beyond individual healing.
Just as past therapies have achieved wide-ranging, cultural influence by
redefining the roles that sexuality, aggression, family ties, and spiritual
alienation have in human nature, ecopsychology, too, has a greater cultural
task: to redefine the relationship of the natural environment to sanity in
our time. The political implications of such a transvaluation of human na-
ture should be clear.
A likely first step toward this goal might be to issue a call for the crea-
tion of a new profession. The call itself would dramatize the idea and the
need; and there is good reason to believe that it would be heeded. A ris-
ing generation of therapists is seeking new directions for its ethical en-
ergies. Many Freudians, Jungians, Gestaltists, Transpersonalists, and
Humanists are ready to reexamine the teachings and techniques of their
schools in search of a task that binds them to something greater than eth-
nocentric social forms and the usual repertory of modern, Western values.
There are indications that many now wish to speak for the planet, for its
imperiled species, for primary people, for the long lost *Anima Mundi.* <--
Psychiatry has grown by constantly expanding its context; it has reached
beyond the intrapsychic mechanisms to the family, the society, the work-
place, the culture. The planetary environment would seem to be the largest
of all imaginable contexts for the healing of the soul, especially if one
finds within that context intimations of the sacred. Similarly, there are
environmentalists who want to present a different face to the world audi-
ence than that of scolding puritans and scowling ideologues.
Implicit in this project is the need for a scientific paradigm that gives
life and mind a new central status in the universe. Building that paradigm
as part of an ecopsychology would make the effort more than a merely
academic exercise; it would become part of a practical healing mission.
Issuing a call for such a new profession is concrete, specific, timely, and
deeply imaginative. Its object is to heal both psyche and planet as a sin-
gle, continuous project.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The following article appears on the back page of the latest issue of the
newletter. I include it here to give a bit more background on the Center
for Psychology and Social Change:
Center Developing Environmental Project
A Center working group is currently developing a project to bring together
activists and researchers who study the principles of effective social
change. These two communities remain relatively uninformed of each other's
work: activists with work pressures often lack the time or forum in which
to reflect theoretically about social change; researchers, for their part,
are not always sufficiently aware of the kinds of questions activists would
like answered, and the relevance and generalizability of researchers'
theories are not often tested by those who have the most immediate and sus-
tained contact with the realities of activist practice. The Center hopes
to build ongoing and productive bridges between these two groups.
Currently the planning group is soliciting advice and suggestions from ex-
emplary researchers on activism, from activist organizations, and from in-
dividuals around the country. The group is also establishing ties with lo-
cal environmental activists who would like to participate in this process
and maintain sustained contact with the Center.
This collaborative project will serve as the basis for an ongoing study
group, will be used as a model for further events, and will serve to build
the Center community's knowledge about effective social change.
Anyone interested in suggesting local environmental groups, or exemplary
activism researchers, or in participating in the workshop should contact
Melissa Everett at the Center.
--Yaakov Garb
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Lastly, here is a statement from literature received from the Center earlier
which indicates the orientation of this organization toward thinking about
environmental issues:
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
The Center's evolving environnmental program builds theory, sponsors
research, and supports interventions to encourage environmentally responsi-
ble behavior at all levels of society. Members of the Center's network are
breaking new ground as they bring tools and insights from their various
backgrounds to address the psychological and cultural factors contributing
to environmental destruction. Although much of the Center's program in
this new area of inquiry is in the development or theory-building stage,
work has already begun in the Corporate Leadership project (which includes
environmental issues in its analysis) and in other projects and related ac-
tivities described in the Fall 1990 _Center Review_.
CPSC is an affiliate of Harvard Medical School at The Cambridge Hospital.
Center for Psychology and Social Change
1493 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
United States of America
Phone: 617-497-1553
FAX: 617-497-0122
(I have no affiliation with the Center, but I do hope to encourage them to
become directly involved in electronic discussions, and will do what I can
to provide them with assistance with the technical aspects of doing so.)
Gary
--
Gary S. Trujillo gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Somerville, Massachusetts {wjh12,bu.edu,spdcc,ima,cdp}!gnosys!gst