The way humans perceive their surroundings has always been a product of their culture. As Robert Cox explains, this origin of our perceptions can be exemplified by the early colonists of America (2016). The colonists greatly feared the dangerous, primitive wilderness that today is often referred to as nature with a pleasant connotation. This contrasted greatly with the indigenous Native Americans who lived with and revered their surroundings just as their ancestors and culture instructed them to do so.  Therefore, for centuries culture and the environmental perceptions have been largely intertwined, producing a multitude of different perspectives.

These cultural perspectives can differ in a variety of ways; nevertheless, Paul Wesley Schultz breaks them down into three attitudes: biospheric concerns pertaining to all living things, altruistic concerns related to other people and humanity beyond the individual, and egoistic concerns solely about oneself (2002). It is this choice set of perspectives that brings about the need for the Environmental Humanities as it is necessary to understand the motives and philosophies of a culture in order to bring in a working solution to its environmental issues. As Angela Penrose illustrates in Staying Afloat, developed nations are far too egoistic, driven primarily by business opportunities rather than the desire to make a positive change. On the other hand, third world and developing nations cannot afford to seek profit. They can barely afford to break even. The environment and climate change are not commercial products to them, but rather a life-altering, destructive phenomenon for everyone.  Unfortunately, the developed countries do not yet seem to see climate change in the same light, and it may not be until they do so that significant progress will be made.

Works Cited

Schultz, P. Wesley. “Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors Across Cultures.” Online Readings in Psychology and Culture 8.1 (2002): n. pag. Web.

Penrose, Angela. “Staying Afloat.” Loosed Upon the World: The Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction. Ed. John Joseph Adams. Saga. 323-40. Print.

Cox, Robert, and Phaedra C. Pezullo. “Chapter 2 Contested Meanings of Environment.” Environmental Communication and the Public Sphere. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2016. Print.

How do environmental issues register differently in different cultures?

In the preface of the novel Inuit, Polar Bears, and Sustainable Use, Mary May Simon, a fellow at the Arctic Institute of North America and former Canadian diplomat, recounts her personal history regarding ways of knowing in the Inuit community and their connections with wildlife. She says of hunting polar bears, “It is far more than just hunting, processing, and eating an animal. We respect that which gives us life and that which gives its own life for our very own. Imagine trying to grasp the depth of this understanding and principle in a world of farmed animals, artificial materials, supermarkets, and fast food restaurants?”(Simon vii). This is a response to the event in May 2008, where the United States categorized polar bears as a ‘depleted species’ under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. The act banned the importing of any polar bear goods, including those from sustainable conservation hunting programs. This action deeply impacted Inuit livelihoods, where there were already provincial and federal laws in place to ensure the health polar bear populations. This is a striking example of how cross-cultural misunderstanding can lead to smaller communities being overshadowed by a dominant society’s perspective.

This interaction is paralleled in the story Staying Afloat by Angela Penrose, where the narrator, who resides in Mexico, states her opinion on the communication with Americans about environmental issues in her community: “an American product pushed by smiling blond spokesmen in expensive ‘casual’ suits who promised miracles every time they opened their mouths” (Penrose 324). The ideology that environmental issues can be solved through purely one country’s actions is not only unhelpful when discussing these issues, but can be very harmful. Every person on earth is dealing with the changing climate, and as such we should fully respect the opinions and ideas of one another. Therefore, acknowledging the fact that environmental issues register differently in different cultures is necessary in order to create effective and long-lasting solutions to environmental problems.

An Inuit hunter wearing traditional hunting clothes for surviving the extreme cold. (http://www.allaboutshoes.ca/en/our-boots/index.php?target_table=our_boots&sub_section=1420)

Works Cited

Penrose, Angela. “Staying Afloat.” Loosed Upon the World: The Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction. Ed. John Joseph Adams. Saga. 323-40. Print.

Simon, Mary May. “Preface.” Preface. Inuit, Polar Bears, and Sustainable Use: Local, National and International Perspectives. Ed. Milton M. R. Freeman and Lee Foote. Edmonton: CCI, 2009. Print.

How do environmental issues register differently in different cultures? (Or do they?)

http://socialated.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/culture-is-the-way.png

According to Amos Rapoport in “On the Relation Between Culture and Environment”, “culture-environment relations have been among the most active and lively areas of environment-behavior studies (EBS)”. This being, because every culture views environmental issues in different ways due to the differing views of life in general. The reasons of this development of culture-environment relations is due to how culture affects behavior, cognition, and meaning (Rapoport). Culture is the eyes through which we look at the world and therefore affects the way they view the environment.

Ever since the beginning of the human species, we have learned from the world around us and created thoughts and ideas on how to look at it. These different biological subgroups of humans has resulted in the differences between groups of humans. Due to the vastness of the earth and the separation of different people, each group developed different cultures and ways of looking at the world.

Although culture is different all over the world, it is hard to define what it is. Rapoport says that culture is an “unobservable entity” that is only seen by its effects, expressions, or products. When each culture defines “environment” they define it in different ways. Environment may be the nature in which surrounds us or the environment in which we construct for ourselves.

This adds complexity for finding solutions for environmental issues and will require a cross-cultural approach to tackle. As an educator, my goal is to create lesson plans that expose my students to environmental issues and solutions while appealing to their different cultural backgrounds. Hopefully by doing this I can be an enactor of change within my students lives.

Works Cited

Rapoport, Amos. “Culture and Environment.” Culture and Environment. Carnegie Mellon University, n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2017. <http://www.cmu.edu/ARIS_3/text/text_rapoport.html>.

Culture. Defined by anthropologist Sir Edward B. Tylor as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by [a human] as a member of society,” culture is an ever present truth in the human existence. However, I would argue that an equally significant aspect of culture is its attendant sense of mystery.

As humans, while we are always part of a culture, there are far more cultures from which we are excluded, cultures we seek to understand through an amalgam of media, from personal experience to anthropologists’ notes to news headlines to books and short stories. When perceiving culture, it is particularly interesting to examine the intersection of culture with environment as the two are inextricably linked and mutually influential.

Today, as I was scouring the web for a news piece detailing an environmental solution, I came across this recent article regarding a biodiversity campaign in Nigeria. While the work being done in the Niger Delta addresses several issues including recent oil spills threatening local fisheries as well as the loss of biodiversity in local tortoises, crocodiles, and plants, the primary species of interest for the locals is the Sclater’s Guenon, a species of monkey. However, locally, it is known by another name, ‘First Daughter’ of Itam- Awa Itam. These monkeys are seen as sisters and brothers in the local culture, and, as a direct result, biodiversity efforts which seek to plant the fruit trees the Sclater’s Guenon relies upon for food have found strong local support.

While I found this story fascinating, I had complete faith that the same situation would never occur in a completely different culture like the United States. Seeing monkeys as brothers and sisters is most definitely not a part of American culture as far as I know. However, upon deeper consideration, I realized that we in America have in fact reacted in the exact same way. When a dearly beloved creature, the American Bald Eagle, symbol of American freedom and prosperity and vital part of our nation’s culture, became considered an endangered species, Americans changed both policies and practices – primarily concerning the use of DDT as a pesticide – to protect the raptor.

Thus, while culture is a diverse entity and its interactions with the environment are often complex, not all environmental issues register differently in different cultures. As seen in Nigeria with the Sclater’s Guenon and in the US with the American Bald Eagle, cultural relationships may differ, but both nations have groups which formed in defense of the animals the regions held dear and pushed forward efforts for the conservation of biodiversity.

Sources:

Bald Eagle. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. <http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/bald_eagle/>.

Sclater’s Guenon. Digital image. Cercopan. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2017. <http://cercopan.org/sclaters-guenon/>.

Street, Brian Vincent. “Sir Edward Burnett Tylor.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 12 Jan. 2007. Web. 2 Feb. 2017.

Uwaegbulam, Chinedum. “Niger Delta Biodiversity Project Rescues Endangered Species.”The Guardian. N.p., 09 Jan. 2017. Web. 2 Feb. 2017.

The intersection between environment and culture is undeniable, from agriculture to art to the industries and professions that dominate different societies. In places like Japan or the Caribbean, where fishing is a prominent livelihood for many, issues of pollution in the water will be of much greater concern than in landlocked or desert-covered countries. In an area that relies on coal mining such as West Virginia, individuals may be much more opposed to green energy initiatives and stubbornly defend their way of life despite an outside narrative that discourages the continuing use of fossil fuels.

Religion has also had a large influence on the way societies and cultures view and interact with their environment. The Christian Bible teaches that humans are “stewards” of the Earth, which can be interpreted in multiple ways. Some Christians take this as a sign that the natural world is theirs to use as they wish; they are higher than plants and animals and have the right to take any resources they may want. Other Christians see their role as more similar to that of a protector; they have a sacred duty to take care of nature and make sure that the planet is healthy. However, in many South and Eastern Asian religions, humans are not seen as separate from the rest of the natural world, and are instead viewed as just another component of a greater spirit or cycle of life. In Hinduism, for example, a person may be reincarnated as an animal many times over until they eventually attain nirvana. In Taoism, all energy is part of the Tao: “the Way” or “the One,” which is sometimes described as the “flow of the universe” and a manifestation of nature. In both of these traditions, it is necessary to show respect towards the natural world because adherents view themselves as inseparable from the all-encompassing “oneness” of life in the universe.

As demonstrated in the Penrose story, the economic situation of a country or community will also have a large influence on the solutions that people find, if any. Interestingly, that particular account demonstrated a significant advantage that poorer nations have over countries such as the United States: a history of developing their own solutions on an individual level rather than relying on technological advancements, the government, corporations, or their own personal wealth to overcome or evade challenges. In other words, a long history of being left to fend for themselves will be the saving grace of poor communities.

A combination of these as well as many other factors will ultimately determine the way that different cultures respond to the challenges that arise as a result of climate change and human interference in the environment. Access to communication through technology or simple proximity to highly-populated areas; the cultural importance placed upon cooperation, ingenuity, tradition, and scores of other values; the availability of education to the general population; the historical interplay between nature and society as well as the influence of media on the overall narrative of the environment and how it should be treated: all of these components and more will vastly affect the approaches and attitudes of various groups in the face of a changing landscape. You just hope that in the end, the response will be one of empathy and not selfishness.

Kevin Bhimani Blog #3

Topic: How do environmental issues register differently in different cultures?

I believe the notion of environmental issues, like many other issues on this planet, is entirely subjective. Some may think that immigration laws are not a problem, whereas others would care to differ. Some may think that countries shouldn’t go to war and that there is no point, but others will do anything to protect their country. Some people may think that there is not a global warming problem, whereas others would offer evidence refuting such claims. It is a situation that is not exclusive to just environmental issues such as degradation, fossil fuel consumption, biodiversity loss, and more. At the core of this though, is the sentiment that everything takes on a different connotation depending on who you talk to and the region of the world you are in. Different cultures will inherently have different mindsets on certain topics.

Angela Penrose detailed a story in her excerpt from Loosed Upon the World how a farm in Mexico was saved by a landslide by using old “junk” that was re-purposed into being an effective measure to preserve the crops. This “junk” was saved by the Abuelo in the story, and it was described as “piles of stuff he saved for some day when it might come in handy” (Penrose 335). Just that sentence can explain the dichotomy our society faces today in which most people in the U.S. would not think to save scraps of metal and Styrofoam, but in another country (in this case Mexico), these are seen as useful materials that could be very beneficial to have lying around. Additionally, we see that people in developed countries have no appreciation for things such as water because it is so readily available, but in places such as sub-Saharan Africa, this issue can be one of life or death. Moreover, pollution in a place like Beijing makes it dangerous to even be outside as the air quality is so low, but people here in Durham, North Carolina do not face the same problem. This discord with issues in my opinion stems from the immediacy of the issue to a person. A citizen living in Beijing will by very privy to the issues of air pollution as it is something that tangibly affects their day to day life, but a similar person in the United States might not have such a deep concern over the same issue. The same goes for people that call the Amazon rainforest their home and the fact that it is being degraded heavily affects their lives, but an average person in London for example will not share their plight. I think to advance the cause for making our collective home, Earth, a place that we can all share for centuries to come, we must be aware and have concern in environmental issues that don’t directly affect us. It is only then that we will be able to overcome the vast amount of problems we face today concerning the state of our environment.

Works Cited:

Penrose, Angela. “Staying Afloat.” Loosed upon the World: The Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction. New York: Saga, 2015. N. pag. Print.

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/last-of-amazon/

http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/china-battles-smog-as-worst-air-pollution-of-the-year-hits-beijing-and-other-cities/3645519.html

https://thewaterproject.org/water-crisis/water-in-crisis-rural-urban-africa

by Margaret Overton

I think I’m finally beginning to put a finger on why the concept of queer ecology seemed so strange to me. The LGBTQ movement is primarily about social issues: the right to marry, the right to job security, the right to use the bathroom that matches their gender identification, and most importantly, the right to simple acceptance by others. But on the other hand, environmental activism and the study of ecology is far more about tangible changes to the world around us: developing clean energy, decreasing pollution, preserving biodiversity, and protecting ecosystems. In short, the two movements have zero goals in common, making it odd from the beginning that they should be working together.

But when I began looking into the different justifications for queer ecology as a practice, rather than an equal partnership, it began looking more like the LGBTQ movement had simply taken ideas about nature and used them to support their own goals, while doing nothing to promote environmental causes. Ecology disproved the idea of homosexuality being “unnatural,” but the relationship was not reciprocal; LGBTQ activists have done little to return the favor.

I would argue that since the two movements lack common grounds in terms of their goals or even the types of outcomes they want to see from society, the concept of queer ecology lacks a clear purpose for existing. In some cases, individuals may have interests that extend beyond LGBTQ rights (vegetarianism or veganism, for example) and they are able to use these areas as a foundation for environmental causes, but unless some overlap exists between the broader movements, they ought to remain separate. Instead, the best way for LGBTQ individuals to support the environment is as human beings, just like everybody else.

Talking with a tannery factory owner in Bangladesh, Summer of 2016

When I first looked at the term “degradation”, I thought I already knew what it meant. The meaning that was engrained in my head was mostly confined to that of physical degradation of tangible materials and resources. In an environmental sense, I had envisioned it meaning the breakdown or contamination of natural resources like lakes and forest land. This definition made sense to me, as I had witnessed such degradation of natural resources in Bangladesh, my ancestral homeland. I had personally seen the huge amounts of toxic chromium waste being dumped into the rivers that flowed alongside homes by the leather processing companies nearby. The purple, blue, and yellow bodies of water I had seen had all left a stark image in my mind of what I perceived to be environmental degradation.
But reading the definition of degradation in “Keywords for Environmental Studies” led me to think about another aspect of the term which hadn’t been obvious to me before, and that was the social aspect of degradation. When such resources are broken down or contaminated, there is a real impact on the lives of the people who have to live in that environment. Thinking about the word through this lens struck me hard – the amount of social degradation that resulted from the resource contamination was much greater than the visible environmental degradation. Now that I think about it, I recall seeing the locals who lived in the area – and I remembered just how difficult their lives seemed to be. I recalled how bad the smell of the air was, from the toxic fumes of the dumped chromium in the water – it had given me a headache for the 2 hours I was there – so how could the residents live there for long periods of time? The only way to obtain clean drinking water was to buy bottled water from the city, which pinched these residents’ already strained finances.
It made me sad to see these people being affected so negatively by the forces of modern capitalism and globalization, which don’t value environmental and social sustainability as much as pure economic growth in financial terms. The future of economics cannot go in this direction much longer without including the costs of the environment – otherwise, such degradation, both environmental and social, will continue until it is possibly too late.

And that will be just sad.

Standing in front of a wasteland filled with scrap leather from the tanneries

Me and my sister standing by a lake in Bangladesh which has been severely contaminated with waste leather and toxic chromium from the tanneries

“2016 Bangladesh Visit.” Thabit Pulak Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2017.

Adamson, Joni, William A. Gleason, and David N. Pellow. Keywords for Environmental Studies. New York: New York UP, 2016. Print.

It’s difficult to determine whether a concept such as the wilderness exists independently of human beings, or whether the wilderness has no meaning void of human interpretation. It’s undeniable that there are certain qualities of nature that are unique. The transcendentalists, according to Cox, find the wilderness as a source of spirituality. The wilderness’ spirituality may not exist void of human beings, meaning it probably is a symbolic construction, however this does not negate the real positive experiences it provides people across cultures.

It is important to note that I am not claiming that the only value of the wilderness is its relation to human beings. Rather, I am claiming that the spiritual value of the wilderness is an incentive for us to protect it.

To be honest, I have never personally felt this spiritual connection to the wilderness. The longest I’ve spent in isolation in the forest was five days during summer camp, and I dreaded the experience. Although I didn’t feel the spirituality of the wilderness there, I do, to some degree, experience the spirituality of the wilderness second hand, through art.

Some of the greatest artists have used the wilderness and its spirituality to express what otherwise cannot be understood. My favourite poet, Robert Frost who is heavily influenced by the transcendentalists, embraces the wilderness and has created beautiful works just by describing nature. Whether or whether not this beauty exists intrinsically does not diminish its important to us. It therefore is worth protecting.

Cox, Robert, and Phaedra C. Pezullo. “Chapter 1 Studying/Practicing Environmental Communication.” Environmental Communication and the Public Sphere. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2016. Print.

Pipes reaching deep into aquifers pump ground water up and into a bottling plant. The plant, owned by a private, foreign company, bottles and sells the water worldwide, claiming to be a unique product of “Pacific romance and luxury” that has remained “Untouched by Man,” (Kaplan, 696). The private, foreign company pays rent on the land around the bottling plant to a semi-militaristic nation. That bottled water is then shipped across thousands of miles to you, the consumer. You then tilt the familiar square plastic bottle to your lips and wait for the perfect water to reach your mouth.

And you wait and you wait, and yet even when you have finished the bottle, the perfect water still escapes you. Bottled water is more than convenient hydration or a luxury experience, whether it originates from mountain streams or underground aquifers. The water that comes from a retail bottle is the sum of every distance the water crossed to get to you, every human life that handled the bottle, and every action that occurred as a result of water sales.

There are politics behind every drop of water, economic value within every bottle, and social consequences that result from requiring payment for the most basic life-giving resource. The environment is not independent from human life. As David Harvey said, “It is inconsistent to hold that everything in the world relates to everything else, as ecologists tend to, and then decide that the built environment and the urban structures that go into it are somehow outside of both theoretical and practical consideration” (Heynen, 60). Deciding that the built environment and its human characteristics relate to everything else in the world allows consumers to contemplate the true cost of the goods offered to them, beyond what they see on the price tag. Therefore, drinking a bottle of water can never be viewed independently from the processes used to create it.

Works Cited:

Adamson, Joni; Gleason, William A.; Pellow, David N.. Keywords for Environmental Studies. New York: NYU Press, 2016. Ebook Library. Web. 28 Jan. 2017.

Kaplan, M. (2007), Fijian Water in Fiji and New York: Local Politics and a Global Commodity. Cultural Anthropology, 22: 685–706. doi:10.1525/can.2007.22.4.685