Environmental Culture: The Ecological Crisis of Reason

This is a much-needed and clearly argued account of what has gone wrong in our thinking about the environment. Rather than looking at the symptoms of environmental degradation, Val Plumwood looks at their roots. She argues that we need to move away from the isolated, individualistic and liberal conception we have of our place in nature and see humanity as part of our ecological world-view, not standing outside it. We need to see nature as an end itself, rather than as an instrument to get what we want. Using examples of small-scale political communities, the treatment of non-human animals and ecological science, Plumwood presents a radically new picture of how our culture must change to accommodate nature.