Communication Ecology of Arne Naess (1912-2009)

We explore communication ecology and how it shaped Arne Naess’ development from child to mature scholar. As a nature-loving, cross-cultural, comparative philosopher, he explored cultures and nature together. His unified communication ecology reflected the places and cultural elements forming his character and professional approach. Both mirror the evolution of studying communication, cultures and languages with ecological methods used for comprehending the natural world. These methods focus on processes, relationships and whole systems, rather than reductionist analysis. Evolving communication and place-based learning systems are in living communities everywhere. There are cultures, language families, and dialects even in communities of nonhuman species. Naess studied worldviews and life philosophies as naturalists’ study living species and beings in ecosystems. He explored classifying cultures, worldviews and religions with ecologically based methods. He called personal philosophies striving for ecological wisdom and harmony ecosophies. Communication ecology avoids the “one size fits all” study of the world; it facilitates the wisdom of diversity in cultural, linguistic, technological and economic analysis. This approach is pluralistic rather than monolithic

Wild Foresters: Practicing Nature’s Wisdom

In 1997 New Society Books published our anthology Ecoforestry: The Art and Science of Sustainable Forest Use.1 Since then, the paradigms of responsible forest use have continued to evolve. The Ecoforestry Movement found common ground in general principles of responsible forest use aiming to keep full functioning forests intact, while selectively removing trees and other material from them. It is now time for a wider and wilder effort to bring wild and tame forests within a more comprehensive vision to save and care for all forests, to restore them where removed, and to sustain cultural and biological diversity to support wild forests. Wild forests are critical to ecological resilience, flourishing cultures, and thriving communities. Wild forest places are unique and of great variety, thus the Wild Forest Movement encourages, respects, honors and supports diversity of cultures with place based wisdom and technologies, instead of a single development model. It supports moving from fossil fuel dependence into the solar age. People everywhere can contribute to solving the three global economic, warming and biodiversity crises. Wild Forests support diverse practices, cultures, worldviews, personal philosophies and lifestyles. Wild Foresters seek perennial knowledge and wisdom to be found in unique forests, places and cultures. Wild Foresting practices involve a wide range of activities and also not acting where silence and contemplation are wise

The Deep Ecology Movement

We trace the development of the deep ecology movement beginning with Arne Naess’ introduction of the term in 1972. We give a detailed account of the movement comparing it to other movements for social responsibility that developed in the 20th century. We discuss Naess’ cross-cultural approach to characterizing grass-roots movements via platform principles that can be supported from a diversity of cultures, worldviews and personal philosophies. We explain Naess’ use of “ecosophy.” We describe his personal philosophy Ecosophy T, and note that some erroneously conflate it with the deep ecology movement. We present an account of his Apron Diagram that uses four levels of discourse to analyze social-political movements, which are: ultimate values in life philosophies, platform principles, policy formulations, and specific actions. Finally, we reflect on the future of the movement given widespread concern about global warming and destruction of cultural and biological diversity