Article: Ancient Confusions- EMES gathering in Bergen - an exploration of Deep Ecology and Ecofeminism
”Our Quaker faith of that of God in
all, taken to mean in all human
beings are too narrow an expression,
and we need to see that all life is one,
something that includes the rock and
the running creek.”
Joanna Bower, 1995
I had the opportunity to head out to Åsane folkehøgskole outside Bergen, for the EMES annual gathering. I had not expected to find any spiritual inspiration when I arrived, mainly concerned with jumping into Fjords and opening myself to the experience of visiting Norway. However I was inspired by the keynote lecture was given by Per Ingvar Haukeland entitled ‘Heavenearth: in the light of all new things,’ a lecture linking Deep Ecology, Quakerism, and Sustainability. An audience member drew attention to the fact that Haukeland had used few female thinkers in his sources. Haukeland suggested that we reach behind the gender of the speakers to the spirit which inspired them. I am not writing this article to criticise Haukeland that question made me curious to explore how women had contributed to thinking in deep ecology, women's history, and thinking, along with other minority groups, often being less well represented. Not only this but according to UN, women make up a large proportion of communities dependent on natural resources which will be affected by climate change. They have a crucial role in protecting these resources. Gender equality is very relevant to the sustainability discussion.
Haukeland’s talk contained three main reflections concerning the concept of the ‘end-times’, the cultural process from darkness to light, how early Quakers considered the dark times to have ended because of the discovery of the connection to the light, how it shows us how to act and who we really are, both our light and darkness. The mission to find a sustainable world is one of finding integration from separation. The old world, built on knowledge, is based on consumer addiction, but the new world, built upon experience, where we are all united by the mystery of living. We reconnect with ourselves and each other and the natural world. The light expresses the reconnection between body, spirit, humanity and nature, male and female, the young and the old, and these. In this sense all creatures are Friends, and the same light exists within all. This radical movement towards valuing all human and non-human beings, including nature is counter to the hierarchical model which places greater value on men and culture. It is a vision which connects all discrimination as being rooted in humanity's separation from nature.
The conceptualisation of the self is also a feature of ecofeminism. The French feminist Françoise d'Eaubonne invented the term ‘ecological feminism’ in 1974 to highlight women’s potential to bring about an ecological revolution. Historically ecofeminism’s development was linked to deep ecology’s; however, this was challenged with the ecofeminism-deep ecology debate. Some ecofeminists such as Marti Kheel believe that the emphasis on self-realisation and identification with all nature comes at the cost of the independent being. Ecofeminism critiqued as focusing on the dichotomy between women and men, nature and culture, recreating the dualism. This is opposed to a more non-essentialist view that women and nature can both have masculine and feminine characteristics. Regarding contemporary ecofeminists, amongst others, Joanna Macy is well known Buddhist whose work is in the tradition of deep ecology, however after becoming disillusioned, she prefers to call her field, ‘Work which Reconnects; ' A ground-breaking framework for social and personal transformation; helping individuals collaborate in the face of despair.
all, taken to mean in all human
beings are too narrow an expression,
and we need to see that all life is one,
something that includes the rock and
the running creek.”
Joanna Bower, 1995
I had the opportunity to head out to Åsane folkehøgskole outside Bergen, for the EMES annual gathering. I had not expected to find any spiritual inspiration when I arrived, mainly concerned with jumping into Fjords and opening myself to the experience of visiting Norway. However I was inspired by the keynote lecture was given by Per Ingvar Haukeland entitled ‘Heavenearth: in the light of all new things,’ a lecture linking Deep Ecology, Quakerism, and Sustainability. An audience member drew attention to the fact that Haukeland had used few female thinkers in his sources. Haukeland suggested that we reach behind the gender of the speakers to the spirit which inspired them. I am not writing this article to criticise Haukeland that question made me curious to explore how women had contributed to thinking in deep ecology, women's history, and thinking, along with other minority groups, often being less well represented. Not only this but according to UN, women make up a large proportion of communities dependent on natural resources which will be affected by climate change. They have a crucial role in protecting these resources. Gender equality is very relevant to the sustainability discussion.
Haukeland’s talk contained three main reflections concerning the concept of the ‘end-times’, the cultural process from darkness to light, how early Quakers considered the dark times to have ended because of the discovery of the connection to the light, how it shows us how to act and who we really are, both our light and darkness. The mission to find a sustainable world is one of finding integration from separation. The old world, built on knowledge, is based on consumer addiction, but the new world, built upon experience, where we are all united by the mystery of living. We reconnect with ourselves and each other and the natural world. The light expresses the reconnection between body, spirit, humanity and nature, male and female, the young and the old, and these. In this sense all creatures are Friends, and the same light exists within all. This radical movement towards valuing all human and non-human beings, including nature is counter to the hierarchical model which places greater value on men and culture. It is a vision which connects all discrimination as being rooted in humanity's separation from nature.
The conceptualisation of the self is also a feature of ecofeminism. The French feminist Françoise d'Eaubonne invented the term ‘ecological feminism’ in 1974 to highlight women’s potential to bring about an ecological revolution. Historically ecofeminism’s development was linked to deep ecology’s; however, this was challenged with the ecofeminism-deep ecology debate. Some ecofeminists such as Marti Kheel believe that the emphasis on self-realisation and identification with all nature comes at the cost of the independent being. Ecofeminism critiqued as focusing on the dichotomy between women and men, nature and culture, recreating the dualism. This is opposed to a more non-essentialist view that women and nature can both have masculine and feminine characteristics. Regarding contemporary ecofeminists, amongst others, Joanna Macy is well known Buddhist whose work is in the tradition of deep ecology, however after becoming disillusioned, she prefers to call her field, ‘Work which Reconnects; ' A ground-breaking framework for social and personal transformation; helping individuals collaborate in the face of despair.
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