Integral Ecology: Uniting Multiple Perspectives On The Natural World

Description

Today there is a bewildering diversity of views on ecology and the natural environment. With more than a hundred ecological schools of thought and methodologies - and scientists, economists, religious leaders, activists, and others often taking completely different stances on the issues - how can we come to agreement to solve our toughest environmental problems? In response to this pressing need, "Integral Ecology" unites the valuable insights from multiple perspectives into a comprehensive theoretical framework - one that can be put to use right now.Real-life applications of integral ecology are examined, including work with marine fisheries in Hawaii, strategies of eco-activists to protect Canada's Great Bear Rainforest, and a study of community development in El Salvador. '"Integral Ecology" is a forward-looking book that invites compassionate proactive activism when dealing with the messes we've made.
Time isn't on our side, but my optimism leads me to believe that if we embrace the authors' messages and put them into action using humility, compassion, heart, and love, we still have a chance to pull ourselves out of the many deep holes we're digging for ourselves, other animals, and ecosystems' - Marc Bekoff, PhD, author of "The Emotional Lives of Animals".

Reviews

""Integral Ecology" is a forward-looking book that invites compassionate proactive activism when dealing with the messes we've made. Time isn't on our side, but my optimism leads me to believe that if we embrace the authors' messages and put them into action using humility, compassion, heart, and love, we still have a chance to pull ourselves out of the many deep holes we're digging for ourselves, other animals, and ecosystems."--Marc Bekoff, PhD, University of Colorado, author of "Animals Matter" and "The Emotional Lives of Animals" "This is the finest book on ecology bar none. Highest recommendation!"--Ken Wilber, author of "Sex, Ecology, Spirituality" and "The Integral Vision" "This book offers a promising approach for making sense of the diverse perspectives on the environment, including the many ways of understanding the complexities and challenges of global environmental change. The integral ecology framework provides a valuable roadmap for responding to contemporary problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and land use change. Given the widespread and often heated debates about environmental issues, the publication of "Integral Ecology "is timely and appreciated."--Karen O'Brien, PhD, University of Oslo, coauthor of "Environmental Change and Globalization "and member of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning team of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) "In "Integral Ecology" Esbjorn-Hargens and Zimmerman have produced a complex framework (rooted in a hierarchy of integrative levels proposed by philosopher Ken Wilber) for the multidisciplinary interrogation of ecological problems. This framework provides an intelligent basis for discovering what questions need to be posed in our de facto postmodern era, and how to formulate them most effectively."--Stanley N. Salthe, PhD, Brooklyn College, author of "Evolving Hierarchical Systems" and "Development and Evolution" ""Integral Ecology "is a remarkable wor

Author description

Michael E. Zimmerman, PhD, is professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Humanities and the Arts at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He spent more than thirty years at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he was chair of the Department of Philosophy and co-director of Environmental Studies. He is co-editor of the popular textbook "Environmental Philosophy" and the author of "Contesting Earth's Future." In addition, Michael has published nearly one hundred academic articles on philosophy and ecology. He lives in Boulder, Colorado, with his wife and daughter.