Traditional and Modern Approaches to the Environment on the Pacific Rim: Tensions and Values

by Harold Coward (Editor)

The most vigorously developing economies and largest markets today are located on the Pacific Rim, suggesting that the economic "center of gravity" is shifting from the shores of the North Atlantic. Yet the Pacific Rim is also the location of much of the earth's natural beauty as well as the home of still thriving traditional aboriginal societies. The Pacific Basin's environmental assets and its aboriginal peoples are confronted by the forces of development. The resulting tension between traditional and modern approaches to the environment are addressed in this book by an interdisciplinary team of scientists, social scientists, and humanists.

Part I introduces the tensions between traditional and modern values; Part II examines the problem in more detail with regard to the relationships that exist between some belief systems, institutions, and the environment; while Part III presents case studies from Canada, the United States, Russia, and China where attempts have been made to reconcile the tension between traditional and modern approaches to the environment.

260 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Harold G. Coward is a professor emeritus of history and the founding director of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He served as president of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion and was the founding editor of the Journal for Hindu-Christian Studies and editor of the WLU Press series The Study of Religion in Canada. He has authored twenty books along with many edited books, chapters and articles. His publications include Scripture in the World Religions (2002), Mantra: Hearing the Divine in India and America (2004), and The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Eastern and Western Thought (2008).