Social ecology is a study of humanity in the context of nature, as a natural, collaborative part of it as opposed to the conventional institutionalized view of humans and nature as opposing forces in the world. It has to do with what is natural and what is not within our society - what did we invent or build within our society that does not have to exist that way? I thought it was very interesting to note that our society has kept this line of thinking since it's peak in Victorian times, and I definitely see this connection in literature: Frankenstein, Moby Dick, writings of the Bronte sisters, etc. As well, it is obvious that our economy functions in the same manner, against rather than with nature, using human ingenuity for unsubstantiated reasoning and efforts put towards "growth".
To answer the blog question, the unnatural hierarchies that exist in today's society, to give a few examples, are between children an adults and between nations.
The children and adults example I've always found intriguing. We are born into submission as children, but who is to say that children can't teach adults some great lessons if left with more freedom to do so by authority to govern their own thoughts and activities? The other example is in regards to the inequality of different nations - what keeps the first world nations, including the U.S., in power? Without delving into history, it is clear that current social institutions fuel this arrangement.
Great blog post! Love the literary connections you made! Do you think it is possible for our society to learn to work with nature or have we fallen too deep into the habit of working against it?
ReplyDelete