UnderCurrents: Journal of Critical Environmental Studies (E-Journal - York University)
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Heeding the Song Unseen
Get PDFIf one descends the Tatshenshini River* in July, one is bound to come across the .hermit thrush hopping about under the poplar, willow and scrubby spruce. A reclusive bird, its name seems to suit its unassuming appearance and the sparse, rugged surroundings in which I first heard it sing.. Like a small brown robin deprived of its orange breast, it could easily pass unnoticed, and I myself would scarcely have paid it much attention had it not been for its song, a splash of delicate, resonant crystal and sparkling cascades. [...
Green Politics and the Tyranny of the Thinker
Get PDFSometimes I think of human cognition as the ultimate environmental problem. It's a simplistic hypothesis, I know, especially in its failure to address the fact that some humans are more implicated than others in creating and perpetuating the mess. But in the context of questioning the viability of the species, it is not one to be lightly dismissed. [...
Tourist Tales: Eco-tourism and Orangutans
Get PDFIn my own "tour of desire," I travelled in the Fall of 1992 to see the orangutans of Borneo. On a personal level, I had wanted to see orangutans in the wild ever since studying them in the zoo a number of years ago for my B.A. thesis. At the time, I was a psychology major specializing in animal behaviour, and had elected to do an observational study on sex differences in their play behaviour. I spent many hours watching these magnificent creatures, so like us, confined to such maddeningly small and barren quarters, and I longed to see them as they ought to be: in their own world, in context. But I also went as a researcher to document and analyze the other tourists' reactions to, and experiences with, the orangutans. [...
Law as if Nature Mattered
Get PDFThis quotation, taken out of context, seems to reveal an understanding or recognition of the worth of objects (animate or inanimate) apart from human use. Ironically, Kant goes on to promote an essentially anthropocentric ideal of moral worth. This paradox, characterised by the recognition of the inherent worth of nature and wildlife, and yet an inability to allow these values to be manifest in human communities, continues today and is apparent throughout various disciplines: law, philosophy,literary criticism, cultural geography and others. In legal theory · and environmental ethics this controversy has centred around the question of 'rights,' essentially illustrated by two questions: 1) Does the 'environment> havdnherent worth or intrinsic value and, if so, 2) Could it be a legal rights holder
Stories and Rituals in the Interstices between Utopias and Apocalypses
Get PDFWe walked along the beach, shrouded in fog, with only the sound of the waves lapping gently against the shore giving us a sense of direction. We walked slowly: I, unable to see any shapes or fonns in the dense mist, held your hand tightly; you sensed the way forward, each step a mystery into an abyss, each step an eternity, where all things swirled half-remembered and all memories shimmered with the safety of their concealment
When The Eye Cannot See: Rethinking Night
Get PDFNight is contested: from a hundred directions claimants come to appropriate
Musical Voices: Women's Music in Canada as "Situated Knowledges"
Get PDFMusic is one important cultural medium in which issues relevant to a particular time are explored. It is a pcipular medium which allows for exploration in a very personal and contextual way