Deep Ecology for the Twenty-First Century

This understandable and much-needed anthology attempts to dispel the confusions and misunderstandings about "deep ecology" that have provoked charges of misanthropy from partisans of anthropocentric alternatives and even affected Vice President Al Gore's influential work, Earth in the Balance (LJ 3/1/93). Contributors are recognized theorists, historians, and activists in the deep ecology movement, including editor Sessions, a philosopher; poet Gary Snyder; environmental historian Donald Worster; wilderness advocate Dave Foreman; and the founder of the movement, Norwegian philosopher and mountaineer Arne Naess. In Part 1, various theorists define deep ecology and explore the cultural significance of its ecocentric orientation; Part 2 examines the historical roots of this movement in literature, philosophy, and science; Part 3 consists solely of Naess's recent essays, most of them previously unpublished; Part 4 differentiates deep ecology from social ecology, ecofeminism, and New Age positions; Part 5 explains the connection of deep ecology to wilderness preservation; and Part 6 centers on the dubious politics of sustainable development. An important purchase for academic and larger public libraries.