Review of Living Through The End of Nature: The Future of American Environmentalism by Paul Wapner

Kraayenbrink, Taylor

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

The GooseVolume 13 | No. 1 Article 36-20-2014Living Through The End of Nature: The Future ofAmerican Environmentalism by Paul WapnerTaylor KraayenbrinkWestern UniversityPart of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Literature in English, North AmericaCommons, Nature and Society Relations Commons, and the Place and Environment CommonsFollow this and additional works at / Suivez-nous ainsi que d’autres travaux et œuvres:https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegooseThis article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Goose by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Cet article vous est accessible gratuitement et en libre accès grâce à Scholars Commons @ Laurier. Le texte a été approuvé pour faire partie intégrantede la revue The Goose par un rédacteur autorisé de Scholars Commons @ Laurier. Pour de plus amples informations, contactezscholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended Citation / Citation recommandéeKraayenbrink, Taylor. "Living Through The End of Nature: The Future of American Environmentalism by Paul Wapner." The Goose,vol. 13 , no. 1 , article 3, 2014,https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol13/iss1/3.Living Through The End of Nature: The Future of American Environmentalism by PAUL WAPNER MIT Press, 2010 $16.95  Reviewed by TAYLOR KRAAYENBRINK  In Living Through the End of Nature Paul Wapner applies theoretical pressure to the idea of “Nature” in American thought and history. The beginning of his book brings some refreshing reminders to the reader about some of the difficulties that environmentalists (whether environmental philosophers or activists) face. Particularly, Wapner is concerned with the naturalization of a particular idea of Nature. Nature is not a universally existent and consistent category in all societies and periods of history. American culture has produced an idealized notion of what Nature is. This idealization, Wapner notes, the ideal of Nature that Americans have cherished is problematic in its own rite; but whatever one might think about it, at this point in US political and industrial history, it is also a practical impossibility. The ideal that Americans have maintained valorizes “the wildness of nature”; however, this wildness, though it may be an admirable ideal (and this is not necessarily a fact) is unattainable because human technological advances and intrusions in America have ensured that virtually no facet of the non-human is untouched and unaltered by human activity. This unattainability of wildness does not mean, for Wapner, that environmentalism is a lost cause. Instead, he calls for Americans to look for ways in which to positively engage with the non-human element of society. What Wapner calls “the end of nature” is actually a “new orientation” that allows for humans to re-theorize their environmental attitudes. This orientation should stop idealizing nature and instead “focus on ecological and social health.” This “postnature” posture should also recognize human interaction with the environment, and instead of avoiding it, seek positive engagements.  One of the most valuable insights that this book offers—indeed a major premise of the text—is Wapner’s concentration on the line of division in environmentalism and environmental criticism between essentialists and constructionists. Wapner is against the naturalization of an ideal of nature, and he sees social constructivist criticisms of environment, environmentalism, and environmentalities as valuable for their suspicion of the idealism that neatly separates nature from humans. Wapner applies labels to the essentialist and constructivist camps: environmentalism (essentialist) and ecocriticism (constructivist). The recent emergence of ecocriticism with its questioning of traditional notions of environment has been criticized as a theoretical parasite of environmental activism, but Wapner believes these questionings offer valuable correctives to an activism that is becoming worn out in the 21st century and that needs to be retooled to assert itself in changing socio-political and technological situations. Every environmentalist, whether activist or more theoretically inclined, must be reminded that “[n]ature is not a self-subsisting entity with an essential character but rather a contextualized idea through which we approach the non-human world.”  In Living Through the End of Nature Wapner spends a considerable amount of time addressing current political and social environmental concerns. In particular, one of the valuable critiques he offers is of preservationist environmentalism that demonizes human intrusion of any sort into 1Kraayenbrink: Living Through The End of NaturePublished by / Publié par Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2014nature. In his questioning of the preservationist movement, Wapner shows the dangers of essentialist thinking that is such a forceful part of it: “Are we aiming toward a preindustrial, prehistoric, or other state of affairs, and is this natural?” What environmentalists assume to be a natural state of operation can often be an ideologically or emotionally charged sensibility.  Wapner, building on his critique of naturalized nature, narrates the history of some of the most valued conservation areas in North America. Many of the national parks in the US and Canada are products not of “Nature” but of dramatic—sometimes excessive—human intervention. The sectioning off of national parks in Tennessee and Alberta have resulted in an isolated environment, and ignore nearby urban and industrial developments that are devastating to wildlife and wilderness. In this way an idealized and restricted “natural” space justifies the continued exploitation of the environment all around this space. Furthermore, Wapner shows how these idealized locations of conservation used to be home for the indigenous people of North America. When many national parks in the US and Canada were “built,” the governments evicted indigenous people as though they were contaminants to the country. Just as the neo-liberal exploitation of the non-human environment is closely linked with extensive human oppression, so an inverse idealization of environment can just as easily lead to the oppression of people. Wapner reminds his readers that neither one of these scenarios is desirable. The case studies of nationally mandated conservation areas that have occasionally become oppressive spaces are explicit examples in this book that support Wapner’s thesis that the line in environmental studies between essentialism and constructivism that stereotypes the former as earnest activism and the latter as ivory tower intellectual play is unhelpful. Constructivist critiques of environmental idealization offer social redress in many cases.  Another valuable insight that Wapner offers is his critique of the current state of American politics, and its detrimental impact on attempts to move American policies to a more conscientious environmental approach. The polarization of American politics into Republican and Democrat camps completely incommensurable with each other in recent decades allows no room for bi-partisan cooperation with respect to urgent matters of environmental policy. However, Wapner offers tentative praise for the Obama administration’s environmental policy, which might be too hastily generalized. Obama’s approach to environmental controversies has been, in general, to stall without taking definitive environmental stances. The Keystone XL controversy is a primary example of this. Furthermore, Wapner could have paid more attention to the disjunction between President Obama’s public rhetoric and his actual policy on environmental issues. Questioning a major pipeline proposal on environmental grounds while major oil companies work around the delay in energy inefficient manners may be more environmentally damaging than giving green lights to straight lines.  In Living Through the End of Nature, Wapner offers a valuable contribution to the field of environmental criticism that examines the discourse in its current moment, and provides theoretical insights 2The Goose, Vol. 13, No. 1 [2014], Art. 3https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol13/iss1/3that any environmentally minded person can benefit from.  TAYLOR KRAAYENBRINK is a master’s candidate at Western University in London Ontario, where he is working on a thesis project studying environmentality in Early American Puritan literature.  3Kraayenbrink: Living Through The End of NaturePublished by / Publié par Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2014

Living Through The End of Nature: The Future of American Environmentalism by Paul Wapner

Scholars Commons

The Goose
Volume 13 | No. 1 Article 3
6-20-2014
Living Through The End of Nature: The Future of
American Environmentalism by Paul Wapner
Taylor Kraayenbrink
Western University
Part of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Literature in English, North America
Commons, Nature and Society Relations Commons, and the Place and Environment Commons
Follow this and additional works at / Suivez-nous ainsi que d’autres travaux et œuvres:
https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose
This article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Goose by an
authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.
Cet article vous est accessible gratuitement et en libre accès grâce à Scholars Commons @ Laurier. Le texte a été approuvé pour faire partie intégrante
de la revue The Goose par un rédacteur autorisé de Scholars Commons @ Laurier. Pour de plus amples informations, contactez
scholarscommons@wlu.ca.
Recommended Citation / Citation recommandée
Kraayenbrink, Taylor. "Living Through The End of Nature: The Future of American Environmentalism by Paul Wapner." The Goose,
vol. 13 , no. 1 , article 3, 2014,
https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol13/iss1/3.
Living Through The End of Nature: The 
Future of American Environmentalism by 
PAUL WAPNER MIT Press, 2010 $16.95 
 
Reviewed by TAYLOR KRAAYENBRINK 
 
In Living Through the End of Nature 
Paul Wapner applies theoretical pressure to 
the idea of “Nature” in American thought 
and history. The beginning of his book 
brings some refreshing reminders to the 
reader about some of the difficulties that 
environmentalists (whether environmental 
philosophers or activists) face. Particularly, 
Wapner is concerned with the 
naturalization of a particular idea of Nature. 
Nature is not a universally existent and 
consistent category in all societies and 
periods of history. American culture has 
produced an idealized notion of what 
Nature is. This idealization, Wapner notes, 
the ideal of Nature that Americans have 
cherished is problematic in its own rite; but 
whatever one might think about it, at this 
point in US political and industrial history, it 
is also a practical impossibility. The ideal 
that Americans have maintained valorizes 
“the wildness of nature”; however, this 
wildness, though it may be an admirable 
ideal (and this is not necessarily a fact) is 
unattainable because human technological 
advances and intrusions in America have 
ensured that virtually no facet of the non-
human is untouched and unaltered by 
human activity. This unattainability of 
wildness does not mean, for Wapner, that 
environmentalism is a lost cause. Instead, 
he calls for Americans to look for ways in 
which to positively engage with the non-
human element of society. What Wapner 
calls “the end of nature” is actually a “new 
orientation” that allows for humans to re-
theorize their environmental attitudes. This 
orientation should stop idealizing nature 
and instead “focus on ecological and social 
health.” This “postnature” posture should 
also recognize human interaction with the 
environment, and instead of avoiding it, 
seek positive engagements. 
 One of the most valuable insights 
that this book offers—indeed a major 
premise of the text—is Wapner’s 
concentration on the line of division in 
environmentalism and environmental 
criticism between essentialists and 
constructionists. Wapner is against the 
naturalization of an ideal of nature, and he 
sees social constructivist criticisms of 
environment, environmentalism, and 
environmentalities as valuable for their 
suspicion of the idealism that neatly 
separates nature from humans. Wapner 
applies labels to the essentialist and 
constructivist camps: environmentalism 
(essentialist) and ecocriticism 
(constructivist). The recent emergence of 
ecocriticism with its questioning of 
traditional notions of environment has been 
criticized as a theoretical parasite of 
environmental activism, but Wapner 
believes these questionings offer valuable 
correctives to an activism that is becoming 
worn out in the 21st century and that needs 
to be retooled to assert itself in changing 
socio-political and technological situations. 
Every environmentalist, whether activist or 
more theoretically inclined, must be 
reminded that “[n]ature is not a self-
subsisting entity with an essential character 
but rather a contextualized idea through 
which we approach the non-human world.” 
 In Living Through the End of Nature 
Wapner spends a considerable amount of 
time addressing current political and social 
environmental concerns. In particular, one 
of the valuable critiques he offers is of 
preservationist environmentalism that 
demonizes human intrusion of any sort into 
1
Kraayenbrink: Living Through The End of Nature
Published by / Publié par Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2014
nature. In his questioning of the 
preservationist movement, Wapner shows 
the dangers of essentialist thinking that is 
such a forceful part of it: “Are we aiming 
toward a preindustrial, prehistoric, or other 
state of affairs, and is this natural?” What 
environmentalists assume to be a natural 
state of operation can often be an 
ideologically or emotionally charged 
sensibility. 
 Wapner, building on his critique of 
naturalized nature, narrates the history of 
some of the most valued conservation areas 
in North America. Many of the national 
parks in the US and Canada are products 
not of “Nature” but of dramatic—
sometimes excessive—human intervention. 
The sectioning off of national parks in 
Tennessee and Alberta have resulted in an 
isolated environment, and ignore nearby 
urban and industrial developments that are 
devastating to wildlife and wilderness. In 
this way an idealized and restricted 
“natural” space justifies the continued 
exploitation of the environment all around 
this space. Furthermore, Wapner shows 
how these idealized locations of 
conservation used to be home for the 
indigenous people of North America. When 
many national parks in the US and Canada 
were “built,” the governments evicted 
indigenous people as though they were 
contaminants to the country. Just as the 
neo-liberal exploitation of the non-human 
environment is closely linked with extensive 
human oppression, so an inverse 
idealization of environment can just as 
easily lead to the oppression of people. 
Wapner reminds his readers that neither 
one of these scenarios is desirable. The case 
studies of nationally mandated 
conservation areas that have occasionally 
become oppressive spaces are explicit 
examples in this book that support 
Wapner’s thesis that the line in 
environmental studies between 
essentialism and constructivism that 
stereotypes the former as earnest activism 
and the latter as ivory tower intellectual 
play is unhelpful. Constructivist critiques of 
environmental idealization offer social 
redress in many cases. 
 Another valuable insight that 
Wapner offers is his critique of the current 
state of American politics, and its 
detrimental impact on attempts to move 
American policies to a more conscientious 
environmental approach. The polarization 
of American politics into Republican and 
Democrat camps completely 
incommensurable with each other in recent 
decades allows no room for bi-partisan 
cooperation with respect to urgent matters 
of environmental policy. However, Wapner 
offers tentative praise for the Obama 
administration’s environmental policy, 
which might be too hastily generalized. 
Obama’s approach to environmental 
controversies has been, in general, to stall 
without taking definitive environmental 
stances. The Keystone XL controversy is a 
primary example of this. Furthermore, 
Wapner could have paid more attention to 
the disjunction between President Obama’s 
public rhetoric and his actual policy on 
environmental issues. Questioning a major 
pipeline proposal on environmental 
grounds while major oil companies work 
around the delay in energy inefficient 
manners may be more environmentally 
damaging than giving green lights to 
straight lines. 
 In Living Through the End of Nature, 
Wapner offers a valuable contribution to 
the field of environmental criticism that 
examines the discourse in its current 
moment, and provides theoretical insights 
2
The Goose, Vol. 13, No. 1 [2014], Art. 3
https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol13/iss1/3
that any environmentally minded person 
can benefit from. 
 
TAYLOR KRAAYENBRINK is a master’s 
candidate at Western University in London 
Ontario, where he is working on a thesis 
project studying environmentality in Early 
American Puritan literature. 
 
3
Kraayenbrink: Living Through The End of Nature
Published by / Publié par Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2014


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Living Through The End of Nature: The Future of American Environmentalism by Paul Wapner

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