Contesting Earth's Future: Radical Ecology and Postmodernity

by Michael E. Zimmerman

Radical ecology typically brings to mind media images of ecological activists standing before loggers' saws, staging anti-nuclear marches, and confronting polluters on the high seas. Yet for more than twenty years, the activities of organizations such as the Greens and Earth First! have been influenced by a diverse, less-publicized group of radical ecological philosophers. It is their work―the philosophical underpinnings of the radical ecological movement―that is the subject of Contesting Earth's Future .

The book offers a much-needed, balanced appraisal of radical ecology's principles, goals, and limitations. Michael Zimmerman critically examines the movement's three major branches―deep ecology, social ecology, and ecofeminism. He also situates radical ecology within the complex cultural and political terrain of the late twentieth century, showing its relation to Martin Heidegger's anti-technological thought, 1960s counterculturalism, and contemporary theories of poststructuralism and postmodernity.

An early and influential ecological thinker, Zimmerman is uniquely qualified to provide a broad overview of radical environmentalism and delineate its various schools of thought. He clearly describes their defining arguments and internecine disputes, among them the charge that deep ecology is an anti-modern, proto-fascist ideology. Reflecting both the movement's promise and its dangers, this book is essential reading for all those concerned with the worldwide ecological crisis.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy

456 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 1994

Reviews

[Ali]

yo that was TOUGH

would've been 5* if i didnt have to look at heidegger or derrida but i guess you can't avoid it looool

fav phrase in the book is "Western theo-anthropo-ethno-ego-phallo-logo-centrism" lmaooo

[Anthony Bart Chaney]

Dense but thorough academic survey of the intersections of radical ecology, postmodern theory, and ecofeminism.