Eco-activism and Social Work: New Directions in Leadership and Group Work PDF
Preview Eco-activism and Social Work: New Directions in Leadership and Group Work
Eco-activism and Social Work Social workers are called upon to shift from a human-centric bias to an ecological ethical sensibility by embracing love as integral to their justice mission and by extending the idea of social justice to include environmental and species justice. This book presents the love ethic model as a way to do eco-justice work using public campaigns, research, community arts practice and other nonviolent, direct action strategies. The model is premised on an active and ongoing commitment to the eco-values of love, eco-justice and nonviolence for the purpose of upholding the public interest. The love ethic model is informed by the stories of eco-activists who used nonviolent actions to address ecological issues such as: pollution; degradation of the environment; exploitation of farm animals; mining industry overriding First Nation Peoples’ land rights; and human health and social costs related to the natural resource industries, private land developments and government infrastructure projects. Informed by practice insights by activists from a range of eco-justice concerns, this innovative book provides new directions in social work and environmental studies involving transformational change leadership and dialogical group work between interest groups. It should be considered essential reading for social work students, researchers and practitioners as well as eco-activists more generally. Dyann Ross is a senior lecturer in social work in the School of Social Science at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Dyann is a social worker with over forty years of practice in the areas of mental health, training and development in the human services and mining sectors and community and tertiary education. Martin Brueckner is the co-founder and co-director of the Centre for Responsible Citizenship and Sustainability (CRCS) and senior lecturer at the School of Business and Governance at Murdoch University. Martin is a social ecologist whose work focuses on the politics and political economy of sustainable development, sustainable communities and regional sustainability using a transdisciplinary approach. Marilyn Palmer teaches eco-social work theory and practice at Edith Cowan University through the curriculum in community development, gender, and social policy. She uses participatory research methodologies to better understand how post-structural ecofeminism can inform social work practice in the areas of domestic violence, community building and disaster recovery. Wallea Eaglehawk is a sociologist, freelance writer and works in the community arts sector in roles such as arts producer, place making and events coordination. Wallea’s interests include the areas of veganism, self-care and critical reflection, health, well-being and cultural phenomena. Indigenous and Environmental Social Work Series Series Editor: Hilary Weaver University at Buffalo, USA Sustainability is the social justice issue of the century. This series adopts a global and interdisciplinary approach to explore the impact of the harmful relationship between humans and the environment in relation to social work practice and theory. It offers cutting-edge analysis, pioneering case studies and current theoretical perspectives con- cerning the examination and treatment of social justice issues created by a disregard for non-Western cultures and environmental detachment. These books will be invaluable to students, researchers and practitioners in a world where environmental exploitation and an ignorance of indigenous peoples is violating the principles of social justice . Titles : Decolonised and Developmental Social Work A Model from Nepal Raj Kumar Yadav Eco-activism and Social Work New Directions in Leadership and Group Work Edited by Dyann Ross, Martin Brueckner, Marilyn Palmer and Wallea Eaglehawk For a full list of titles in this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ Indigenous-and-Environmental-Social-Work/book-series/IESW Eco-activism and Social Work New Directions in Leadership and Group Work Edited by Dyann Ross, Martin Brueckner, Marilyn Palmer and Wallea Eaglehawk First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 selection and editorial matter, Dyann Ross, Martin Brueckner, Marilyn Palmer and Wallea Eaglehawk individual chapters, the contributors The right of Dyann Ross, Martin Brueckner, Marilyn Palmer and Wallea Eaglehawk to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-25004-1 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-28547-9 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents List of figures vii Foreword viii List of contributors xiii PART 1 What love looks like in public 1 1 Eco-activism and social work: in the public interest 3 MARTIN BRUECKNER & DYANN ROSS 2 Home-grown community activism in Yarloop 26 DYANN ROSS & VINCE PUCCIO 3 Researching disaster recovery: the case for an activist participatory design 39 MARILYN PALMER 4 Just(ice) arts in practice: processes and collaborations 49 HELEN SEIVER 5 The wrong side of native title, the right side of mining 61 MICHAEL WOODLEY 6 Saying no to Roe 8 74 DANIELLE BRADY 7 Hands off Point Peron 89 DAWN JECKS vi Contents 8 Species justice is for every body 100 WALLEA EAGLEHAWK 9 International experiences with social licence contestations 111 MARTIN BRUECKNER & LIAN SINCLAIR PART 2 Clarion call for social work 123 10 The love ethic model 125 DYANN ROSS 11 Transformational change leadership and dialogue between groups 143 DYANN ROSS & MARILYN PALMER 12 Conclusion: new directions in leadership and group work 163 DYANN ROSS, MARILYN PALMER, WALLEA EAGLEHAWK & MARTIN BRUECKNER Resources for practice 171 Index 180 Figures 1.1 Eco-values and responsibilities 5 1.2 T he social actuarial (legal) political (SAP) analysis method 12 6.1 S ave Beeliar Wetlands supporters gather outside the Federal Court in Perth in 2016 77 6.2 Save Beeliar Wetlands Fremantle Festival parade in 2015 78 6.3 M ass protest at the road reserve boundary during the Roe 8 campaign 80 6.4 W omen gathered at the Beeliar Wetlands in February 2017 84 6.5 R oe 8 protestors posing with the WA Premier at the Rottnest Swim 2017 85 10.1 Overview of components of the love ethic model 130 10.2 Love ethic practice method 133 10.3 Eco-activism process 8 step schema 137 12.1 The leaf art installation, Yarloop 168 Foreword First law is the natural law of the land The world in which we live and act is all about stories. This book of powerful stories shares the lived experience of development within the state of Western Australia. The foreword provides an opportunity to share my lived experi- ence, hopes, dreams and actions that are informed by the collective wisdom and actions of human and nonhuman beings. I’ve referred to the first people of Australia as Aboriginal, traditional owner, Indigenous First Australian, First People and First Nations throughout this foreword to encompass the many syn- onyms for Australia’s original peoples. For First Australians land, water, people and the environment are intrinsically entwined. It is interesting to note that in November 2015, the Western Australian Constitution was amended to recog- nise the existence of the First People of Western Australia (Western Australian Government, 2016). The amendment was a gesture of support for Aboriginal People; however, Western Australian governments have not sufficiently rec- ognised Aboriginal rights or interests to create meaningful or sustainable First Law-centred development. As an Indigenous leader at the forefront of invasive and exploitative development, I’ve had to shift my focus beyond responding to the colonial paradigm towards creating freedom and justice by establishing local Aboriginal community-driven forever industries. Ngajanoo Yimardoowarra marnil in my language means “a woman who belongs to the Mardoowarra’” (Fitzroy River). The Mardoowarra is globally unique. It is home to the oldest living culture in the world. Traditional own- ers continue to live on our country and guard fragile and rich biodiversity. My ideology, practice and fiduciary duty is as a guardian and custodian of Warloongarriy First Law; Nyikina customary law determines that in regard to my relationship to the river, the Mardoowarra owns me. I am duty bound to protect the river’s right to life because it is the river of life. Importantly, I cannot break Nyikina First Law. I must stand and be accountable for holding the law of the land. First Law is ancient, from the beginning of time. These natural laws continue to exist. First Law teaches us that the law is in the land and not in the human. Foreword ix Indigenous people are generous in sharing our rich lived experiences which come from our deep intergenerational relationship with nature. When we are born, we are given a j arriny (totem) to give us a place in the universe from where we learn the ethics of care. We learn to have empathy for all other living things: people, animals, plants, rivers and landscapes. Importantly, we learn to co-exist with nature and not to own, dominate or exploit it. Notwithstanding traditional owners receiving recognition of the continuation of their governance of coun- try from the High Court of Australia, the Native Title Act 1993 (A ustralian Government, 1993) does not allow traditional owners the right to veto invasive destructive development on their ancestral lands. Ethical sustainable develop- ment can bridge the divide between the need to generate income and the need to maintain culture and nature. Through sharing our knowledge of country Indigenous people explain how and why management and protection of land- scapes and ecosystems are integral elements of human heritage and culture. It is vital to consider the cumulative impacts of development on sustainable life on country. Traditional ecological knowledge is Indigenous science. The evidence suggests that culture – the beliefs, practices and ethics of law and custom – is the mechanism that Indigenous people use to participate in the world around us as guardians. A more extensive understanding of environ- mental justice requires linking the rights of human beings with nature’s natural rights. Indigenous communities’ traditions and practices protect the essential relationship between Indigenous peoples’ human rights and our ancestral lands and living waters. Indigenous people are key to reimagining sustainable devel- opment and sustainable life on country around the globe. The Mardoowarra is one of the few remaining wilderness rivers in Australia which is relatively unregulated and unmodified by human development. Most of the 7,000 people who live in the Mardoowarra catchment are Indigenous from one of the nine First Nations. The catchment encompasses the traditional lands and living waters of the Ngarinyin, Nyikina, Warrwa, Mangala, Walma- jarri, Bunuba, Gooniyandi, Jaru and Gija peoples. A general word for country throughout First Nations within the catchment is Booroo . Booroo includes the deep connection traditional owners feel from millennia of their family engag- ing the unique spirit of each site. Booroo is more than land; it is more than just a place to Aboriginal People; it is the spirit of family, culture and identity. Booroo is made up of human and nonhuman beings formed by the same sub- stance, by the same ancestors who continue to live in the land, water and sky. First Law maintains the balance between human and nonhuman relations by respecting each other. First Nation People from within the Mardoowarra catchment have collec- tively cared for the river since the beginning of time. As traditional owners we view country as alive, vibrant and all encompassing. Country and all it encompasses is thus an active participant in the world and fully connected in a vast web of dynamic, interdependent relationships. These relationships are strong and resilient when they are maintained. Healthy relationships are
The list of books you might like
