ЕCO-SAVAGES ARE CONQUERING THE WORLD (The Creation of Ecological Sensibility through the Construction of the "Other")
ЕCO-SAVAGES ARE CONQUERING THE WORLD (The Creation of Ecological Sensibility through the Construction of the "Other")
Author(s): Dijana GaćešaSubject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Универзитет у Нишу
Keywords: Nature; Environment; Sustainability; The Other; (Eco)Savage; Myth of Ecological Wisdom; Responsibility
Summary/Abstract: Contemporary environmentalist discourses employ the notions of "ecological wisdom", "true sustainability" and "religious naturalism" in order to promote ecological awareness. The exotic and non-Western "other", historically subjugated through the means of colonial power, romantic literature and early anthropological theories, gains popularity in these discourses. This paper analyzes how the Other is used as a tool of articulating and a means of propagating models of sustainable living. It questions whether the allegedly profound Western concern for distant and exotic peoples comes as a new popular rhetoric of conquering the "savage". In the conclusion, the paper suggests that the Other can be perceived not just as a building block of Western identity, or a means of exercising the power of the West, but as an equal participant in human interaction.
Journal: Teme - Časopis za Društvene Nauke
- Issue Year: 2008
- Issue No: 03
- Page Range: 541-556
- Page Count: 16
- Language: English