Why We Need New Words for Nature
Rebuilding our philosophical connection to nature has the largest potential to drive a societal transformation toward sustainability but it is also likely the most difficult connection to change. This is because it demands not only a shift in deeply entrenched and nuanced cultural narratives but also a fundamental transformation in individual minds... See more
Jonathan Aronson • Restoring Respect for Nature: How Mindset Shifts Can Solve the Biodiversity Crisis
"When we fail to critically examine dominant terminology and discourses, our worldview becomes shaped by external agendas, often without our consent. However, consciousness of language's constructive role allows us to reclaim agency over our self-perception and values and allows us to actively participate in reshaping language to articulate diverse
... See moreThe Bureau of Linguistical Reality
Richard Fisher • Why We Need New Words for Life in the Anthropocene
We are all heirs of dualist ontology. We can see it everywhere in the language we use about nature today. We routinely describe the living world as ‘natural resources’, as ‘raw materials’, and even – as if to emphasise its subordination and servitude – as ‘ecosystem services’. We talk about waste and pollution and climate change as ‘externalities’,
... See moreJason Hickel • Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World
Condemning such terms as ‘Sites of Special Scientific Interest’, ‘no-catch zones’, ‘reference areas’ and ‘natural capital’ for a lack of vision when describing the remarkable vitality and richness of the planet we inhabit, he went on to write, ‘Had you set out to estrange people from the living world, you could scarcely have done better.’ The