09 November 2010

Considering the "unimaginable" future...

The folks over at Worldchanging: Bright Green posted a 2007 TED talk given by their founder Alex:

He makes some interesting points about the future, namely that a sustainable one is unimaginable because we don't know how (yet) to integrate environmental and human rights concerns into something shareable with all cultures.  He then talks about the purpose of Worldchanging as providing information on how this future is already happening worldwide and gives several examples of local solutions in various parts of the global South.  Alex's examples show that solutions are most effective when they are  developed according to the context of the problems they solve - when they are unique to the environments in which they will be implemented.  Such ideas may not necessarily translate to a global scale because they are unique to specific peoples and places.  Our readings from our historical ecology class (taught by the righteous and glamorous Sharyn Jones) have been discussing similar issues in terms of activism in Environmental Anthropology.  As we all figure out how to navigate our paths to the future , it is imperative to remember that broad systemic changes must take place alongside local, grassroots, context specific movements in order for sustainability to become valued and pursued as a human right.   Through this blog and the blogs of our classmates (the garden girls and the the pescetarian project), we hope to work from both ends, documenting local and global movements for change.

No comments:

Post a Comment