Science and Sensibility: Negotiating an Ecology of Place PDF
Preview Science and Sensibility: Negotiating an Ecology of Place
Science and Sensibility Negotiating an Ecology of Place Michael Vincent McGinnis university of california press Science and Sensibility The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the August and Susan Frugé Endowment Fund in California Natural History of the University of California Press Foundation. Science and Sensibility Negotiating an Ecology of Place Michael Vincent McGinnis university of california press University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2016 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McGinnis, Michael Vincent, 1962- author. Science and sensibility : negotiating an ecology of place / [Michael Vincent McGinnis]. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978–0-520–28519–4 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 0–520–28519–0 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 978–0-520– 28520–0 (pbk. : alk. paper) — isbn 0–520–28520–4 (pbk. : alk. paper) — isbn 978–0-520–96075–6 (ebook) — isbn 0–520–96075–0 (ebook) 1. Human ecology. 2. Human ecology--Case studies. 3. Environmental protection--Social aspects. I. Title. GF50.M38 2016 304.2—dc23 2015032077 Manufactured in the United States of America 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Natures Natural, a fi ber that contains 30% post-consumer waste and meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper). To my Mother, the sea, and my Father, the mountains This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface: Conversations with Sea and Stone ix 1. Negotiating Ecology in an Age of Climate Change 1 2. Household Words: Cultivating an Ecological Sensibility 31 3. Re-inhabitation: Watershed-Based Activism in Alta California 46 4. A River between Two Worlds: Watersheds and Wastesheds in Aotearoa (New Zealand) 63 5. Organic Machines and the End of Off shore Oil 83 6. The Politics of Civic Science: Marine Life Protection in California 109 7. The Challenge of Place-Based Ocean Governance in New Zealand 131 8. Toward a Blue Economy: Songs of Migration and the Leviathan of Global Trade by Sea 151 9. Islands in a Turbulent Sea 174 10. Restoring Place in the Theater of the Anthropocene 187 Bibliography 211 Index 229 This page intentionally left blank Preface conversations with sea and stone If you stay in a place long enough, you can begin to learn to listen to the landscape and the seascape that you inhabit. In June 2012 a group of scientists, writers, activists, and I gathered in Honolulu harbor, Oahu, and boarded an old sailing vessel. The vessel was a replica of a Polyne- sian vaka. Before we set sail we gathered on deck of the vaka in a circle. We held hands, and the navigator began to sing a song in Fijian. It was a song that celebrated a life with the sea and that invoked the power or mana for a safe voyage. The navigator of the vaka asked us to join in a chorus of song of appreciation for the sea. We all began to sing. We spoke diff erent languages, so this was a diffi cult task. At fi rst there was very little harmony, but in time our voices converged as if to capture a single great breath of the sea. Aloha. Aloha is the Pacifi c’s song. A song of a common breath emerged and a chorus emerged which was fol- lowed by a great laughter. The laughter became the song, and our smiles marked a shared appreciation for our love of the sea. So we set sail with respect. The chapters in this book emphasize the need for a deeper appre- ciation of our place in the world. The chapters are based on my per- sonal journey and my experience with diverse coastal and maritime places and peoples across the Pacifi c Ocean. I have learned over time that there is one ocean that connects diverse peoples across the Pacifi c Ocean. We need to cultivate ecologically grounded values that can contribute to a science and sensibility of place. To re-inhabit a place and ix
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