Politics as If Evolution Mattered : Darwin, Ecology, and Social Justice

by Salzman, Lorna

• ISBN13: 9781462034758
• ISBN10: 1462034756
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-08-25
• Publisher: Textstream
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Summary

Most people don't grasp the connection between ecology and evolution, but understanding how the two are related can help you preserve and restore natural habitats. Humans in contemporary industrial society are regularly making choices that hurt the environment. Scientists and environmentalists examine the relationships between non-human animals and their environments, but have neglected to do the same with humans and human society. Author Lorna Salzman, who has been writing, lecturing, and promoting the preservation of habitats for more than forty years, explores the complex relationship between ecology and evolution in this groundbreaking book. Take a wider perspective and discover why Darwin and the theory of evolution matter today as well as the philosophical and ethical implications of evolution. Salzman also explores how you can apply your understanding of evolution and ecology to make better choices that help the environment. Humanity continues to make bad decisions that harm the environment, but it's possible to reverse course. Politics as if Evolution Mattered reveals how understanding the complex relationship that humanity has with the environment can pave the way for improvement.

Excerpts

The work of Charles Darwin and his successors has shown us that there is no biological basis for the concept of socially repressive dogmas or discrimination on the basis of physical characteristics. Evolutionary theory rebuts the notion of any non-material origin of lf the human species. Evolutionary theory thus carries within in the notion of biocentrism: the functional equality of all living species and the corollary absencee of any biological basis for hierarchy in human social, political and economic relations. Rehabilitating an understanding of evolution as the other side of the ecology coin has practical implications for environmental and social justice advoctes, who sorely need intellectual weapons rather than ideological credos to turn back against corporate greenwashers and biased media. Environmentalists who are accused of being obstructionists, fearmongers and radicals with hidden agendas can more forcefully dispel such charges by understanding and utilizing the tools provided by the scientifically impartial concepts of ecology and evolution.