The variety of integral ecologies: Nature, culture, and knowledge in the planetary era

396 Pages·2017·1.916 MB·English

by  Kelly, Sean;Mickey, Sam;Robbert, Adam

THE VARIETY OF
I N T E G R A L
E C O L O G I E S
SUNY series in Integral Theory
Sean Esbjörn-Hargens, editor
THE VARIETY OF
I N T E G R A L
E C O L O G I E S
Nature, Culture, and Knowledge
in the Planetary Era
Edited by
Sam Mickey, Sean Kelly,
and Adam Robbert
Foreword by Mary Evelyn Tucker
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2017 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic,
electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Ryan Morris
Marketing, Fran Keneston
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mickey, Sam, 1981- editor. | Kelly, Sean M., 1957- editor. | Robbert,
Adam, 1984- editor.
Title: The variety of integral ecologies : nature, culture, and knowledge in the
planetary era / edited by Sam Mickey, Sean Kelly, and Adam Robbert.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2017] | Series: SUNY
series in integral theory | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016031416| ISBN 9781438465272 (hardcover : alk. paper)
| ISBN 9781438465289 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438465296 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Ecological integrity. | Ecology--Study and teaching. |
Environmental sciences.
Classification: LCC QH541.15.E245 V37 2017 | DDC 577.076--dc23 LC
record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031416
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Foreword xi
Mary Evelyn Tucker
1. Introduction: The History and Future of Integral Ecologies 1
Sam Mickey, Sean Kelly, and Adam Robbert
I. FOUNDATIONAL THOUGHT
2. For an Emerging Earth Community: Thomas Berry and 31
a Shared Dream
Sam Mickey
3. An Overview of Integral Ecology: A Comprehensive Approach 55
to Today’s Complex Planetary Issues
Sean Esbjörn-Hargens and Michael E. Zimmerman
4. Integral Ecology and Edgar Morin’s Paradigm of Complexity 81
Sean Kelly
5. Integral Ecology’s Debt to Holmes Rolston III 103
Michael E. Zimmerman
II. WORLDVIEWS AND PERSPECTIVES
6. Cultivating Wisdom: Toward an Ecology of Transformation 131
Mark D. Hathaway
7. The Relational Spiral of Integral Ecology 161

Elizabeth Allison
8. Five Principles of Integral Ecology 189
Sean Kelly
III. EMERGING THEORIES
9. Cosmopolitics 231
Adam Robbert and Sam Mickey
10. On a Few Matters of Concern: Toward an Ecology of Integrity 257
Adrian Ivakhiv

11. Animal Worlds: The Importance of Biosemiotics for 279
Integral Ecology
Sean Esbjörn-Hargens
IV. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
12. Toward an Integral Ecology of Worldviews: Reflexive 305
Communicative Action for Climate Solutions
Annick De Witt and Nicholas Hedlund
13. Ecovillages: Bridges to Integral Community? 345
Karen T. Litfin
List of Contributors 365
Index 369
ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURES
3.1. The four quadrants 58
3.2. The four terrains 59
3.3. Four views on toxic emissions 61
3.4. Some schools of ecology organized by the four terrains 64
3.5. Eight methodological zones 65
7.1. The Relational Spiral 165
11.1. Four views of a frog 283
11.2. Four sciences used to study an organism 292
12.1. Example of Framing Communications for Renewable 328
Energy Initiatives to Multiple Worldviews
TABLES

12.1. The five aspects of the integrative worldview framework. 312
12.2. The IWF ideal, which typically constructs traditional, modern, 318
postmodern, and integrative worldviews in the contemporary
West, using the five worldview-aspects as a coding scheme
13.1. Ecovillages at a glance 352

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THIS BOOK HAS BEEN MANY YEARS in the making. The three of
us started planning this anthology in the fall of 2010. In the years since,
many people, places, events, and institutions have provided support for this
work. We are grateful to SUNY Press and Nancy Ellegate for ushering this book
through the publication process. Many thanks are also owed to the Philosophy,
Cosmology, and Consciousness Department at the California Institute of Integral
Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco. The creative potential of that academic milieu
provided the impetus for us to pursue this project. It was during a departmen-
tal retreat that we first envisioned this anthology. Many students, faculty, and
staff of CIIS have supported the development of this book and of integral ecol-
ogies in general. We also want to thank Sean Esbjörn-Hargens at MetaIntegral
for supporting this work and for including integral ecologies in the Integral
Theory Conference. Special thanks are also due to Esbjörn-Hargens for editing
the SUNY series on integral theory, of which the present volume is a part. We
also want to acknowledge Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim. They have been
a source of encouragement and guidance along the way to this anthology, and
their groundbreaking work with the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale is
exemplary of integral ecologies.
Each of us would like to make some specific acknowledgments. Sam would
like to thank everyone in the Environmental Studies program and the Theology
and Religious Studies department at the University of San Francisco, where he
has been teaching since 2008. Those thanks also extend to Dominican University
of California and Pacifica Graduate Institute, where Sam has also held teaching
appointments. Sam would also like to express his gratitude for the boundless
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