A new view of what's "wild," and a new path for environmentalism.
At the very heart of American respect for nature, historically and philosophically, is the notion of the wild. This notion comes under scrutiny in Wild Ideas, a collection of essays that bring a fresh and refreshing perspective to the wilderness paradoxically at the center of our civilization.
Blending well-known and new voices, the volume surveys classical and romantic concepts of wilderness, from the scary to the sublime, and shows why neither serves us anymore. Instead, the authors argue for a "wild culture," in which nature is not opposed to humanity, a mere matter of resources and consumers. A cogent reassessment of the ideas that drive the conservation movement, Wild Ideas points out a new direction for future environmentalism.
Among the topics discussed are the confluence of wilderness, empire, and race in the United States; the way the ecology movement uses language; gendered views of the wilderness; maps and topology, and how they affect our view of the wild; healing by the wilderness experience; and the idea of an urban wilderness.
Contributors: David Abram; Douglas Buege, U of Wisconsin; Denis Cosgrove, U of London; Robert Greenway, Sonoma State U; Ed Grumbine, Sierra Institute; Marvin Henberg, Linfield College; Irene Klaver, Montana State U; Andrew Light, U of Alberta; Lois Lorentzen, U of San Francisco; Max Oelschlaeger, U of North Texas; R. Murray Schafer; Tom Wolf.
Table of Contents:
Introduction - wildness untamed - the evolution of an ideal, David Rothenberg. Part 1 Whose wild idea?: wild and sustainable uses - revisioning wilderness, R. Edward Grumbine; habitable Earth - wilderness, empire and race in America, Denis Cosgrove; Earth-talk - conservation and the ecology of language, Max Oelschlaeger. Part 2 Cross-cultural wild: pancultural wilderness, Marvin Henberg; reminiscing about a sleepy lake - borderland views of women, place and the wild, Lois Ann Lorentzen; confessions of an eco-colonialist - responsible knowing among the Inuit, Douglas J. Buege. Part 3 The art of the wild: out of the map, into the territory - the earthly topology of time, David Abram; silent wolves - the howl of the implicity, Irene Klaver; the idea of the north - an iceberg history, David Rothenberg; the princess of the stars - music for a wilderness lake, R. Murray Schafer. Part 4 The wild revised: beauty and the beasts - predators in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, Tom Wolf; healing by the wilderness experience, Robert Greenway; urban wilderness, Andrew Light; epilogue - paradox wild, David Rothenberg.
