De: ecopolitics-bounces@lists.opn.

org en nombre de David Orton

[greenweb@ca.inter.net]
Enviado el: Domingo, 15 de Junio de 2008 07:38 p.m.
Para: ecopolitics@lists.opn.org
Asunto: [Ecopolitics] A review - Stan Rowe: A Canadian Earthling

Greetings Greens and fellow travellers:

Below is the Conclusion to my review essay on the late Canadian eco-philosopher
Stan Rowe. I have based my article (about 4500 words) on his two books of essays
_Home Place_ (1990), and _Earth Alive_
(2006) published after his death. I also included Rowe's forestry book _Forest
Regions of Canada_ (1972) in my assessment. I think Rowe was of the intellectual
stature of another Canadian, the late John Livingston, of _Rogue Primate_ and _The
Fallacy of Wildlife Conservation_ fame.

As well as presenting Rowe's ideas, I also deal with some theoretical issues. My
essay has sections on "Social Radicalism", "Aboriginals and Ecocentrism", "Forest
Ecology" and "Relationship to Deep Ecology." The full review is at:
http://home.ca.inter.net/~greenweb/Rowe.htm

For the Earth,

David Orton

***********

Stan Rowe: A Canadian Earthling

_Earth Alive: Essays On Ecology_, by Stan Rowe, NeWest Press, Edmonton, Alberta,
2006, 274 pages, paperback, ISBN: 13: 978-1-897126-03-5.
_Home Place: Essays on Ecology_, by Stan Rowe, NeWest Publishers Limited, Edmonton,
Alberta, 1990, 253 pages, paperback, ISBN: 0-920897-78-9.
....
Conclusion

I have tried to show that Stan Rowe was at the forefront of Canadian ecocentric
thinking. He is a treasure, like the late John Livingston, and both have helped so
many of us come to see the importance of being Earth-centered and what this really
means. Rowe used his own life experiences in the essays in _Home Place_ and _Earth
Alive_ so as to deepen the readers' appreciation of the natural world. He was also
sympathetic and supportive of the orientation of the left biocentric theoretical
tendency, which seeks to reconcile ecocentrism and social justice. I am full of
admiration for the contribution, both ecocentric and political, that Rowe made. He
was a person of the Left who saw the importance of social justice, even if this was
not yet perhaps satisfactorily integrated with his ecocentric philosophy.

My main criticism of Stan Rowe in this review is that he did not see himself as
writing in the deep ecology tradition established by Arne Naess but in some way saw
his own ideas as in opposition to those of Naess. He saw his own ecocentric ideas
as "deeper" than those of Naess. I have argued in this essay that Rowe was quite
mistaken in ascribing biocentrism, as he understood this, as an overall adequate
description of the deep ecology philosophy.

Stan Rowe was someone who can be an ecocentric (and social justice) role model for
those trying to come into a sustainable relationship with the Earth. This
notwithstanding the critical comments raised in my essay, about his understanding
of and his relationship to the philosophy of deep ecology. I urge those on a deeper
ecological path to read the two books of essays. They are not generally hard to
read.
They are thoughtful, illustrate the ecocentric perspective, show how attuned he was
to the natural world around him and also show the consistent pro-feminism to which
he subscribed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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http://home.ca.inter.net/~greenweb/

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