scholarly journals Religion, Polity, and the Natural Environment in the Anthropocene Age

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peyman Hekmatpour
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Environmental Conservation ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Central Concept ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Level Of Analysis

The Anthropocene age is marked by increased human impacts on the natural environment. As social beings, humans interact with each other, and with their surrounding environments, often through organizations and institutions. Religion and the polity are among the most influential human institutions, and they tend to impact the natural environment in several ways. For instance, several thinkers have claimed that some of the central ideas of the Abrahamic traditions, such as the concept of “Domination of men over the earth,” are among the causes of several anthropogenic environmental problems. By contrast, some of the ideas of non-Abrahamic, particularly animistic, religions are found to be associated with environmental conservation and stewardship. The polity can also contribute to environmental problems. The relationship between political organizations and environmental degradation, at any level of analysis from local to global, is well studied and established in the literature. Politicizing the natural environment, however, is not without tradeoffs. Environmentalism, by certain groups of people, is considered as a “stigma,” while it is a central concept in the political ideology of another part of the population. This antagonism is harmful to the environmental protection cause. I make the case that religion, or at least a number of religious ideas, can be conducive to the process of depoliticizing the natural environment. In this paper, I strive to draw a theoretical framework to explain how religion and the polity can mutually impact the natural environment.

Human Population and Environmental Problems

1974 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R. Ehrlich
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Face ◽  
Zero Population Growth

Human population growth is clearly outstripping the possibilities of increasing the supply of food and other prerequisites for satisfactory existence. Already, with around four thousand million people on Earth, the race appears to have been lost by agriculture. The prospect of doubling this population by shortly after the turn of the century is bleak indeed. It is the belief of many, however, that zero population growth will be reached earlier by a catastrophic increase in the number of deaths—most probably from starvation. This also bodes ill for conservation; for as people get more and more hungry, their behaviour towards wildlife and what remains of the natural environment is going to become more and more reckless. The destruction of both wildlife and its habitat may be expected to extend to quite devastating proportions, which will require understanding action in both over- and under-developed countries to counter with any degree of success.Man is inexorably changing the face of the Earth and weather patterns in directions which could have all manner of widespread ill-effects, and already have had some catastrophic local ones. Yet more and more of the world's productive lands are being paved with concrete, and the productivity of even wider areas is being permanently lost through erosion and laterization following the clearing of forests and other binding vegetation. Simultaneously, many strains of crop plants are being lost which are essential to humanity because they enable plant breeders to develop new agricultural varieties to help keep abreast of changes in pests and weather, and to raise production levels.

scholarly journals Alquran Dan Konservasi Lingkungan (Suatu Pendekatan Maqashid al-Shari'ah)

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mamluatun Nafisah
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Environmental Conservation ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Utilization Potential ◽  
Substantive Law ◽  
Operational Utilization ◽  
The Relationship

The environment has been understood as a removable thing, thus draining the Excessive against nature for the sake of economy and technology, is considered a humane. This view is becoming disastrous to the natural events that until now difficult to overcome. This research aims to determine the Quran in depth perspective about environmental conservation with the approach ofThe environment has been understood as a removable thing, thus draining the Excessive against nature for the sake of economy and technology, is considered a humane. This view is becoming disastrous to the natural events that until now difficult to overcome. This research aims to determine the Quran in depth perspective about environmental conservation with the approach of maqashid al-syari'ah. This approach is used in order to determine the extent to which technical and operational utilization of the earth and the extent to which content is said to be exaggerated, with more emphasis on welfare. Findings of the research that the Quran outlines the basic values and practical substantive law in its management, including the principle underlying the utilization potential of the earth and the principle of maintenance. In order to take advantage of the potential of the earth, the Quran commands people to do the imarat al-ardh, that made the earth or the environment as a medium to realize the benefit of overall living creatures on earth. While the principle of its maintenance, the Quran emphasizes the importance of treating the environment well. One of the principles underlying the relationship between humans and nature are all beings have legal status muhtaram. maqashid al-syari'ah. This approach is used in order to determine the extent to which technical and operational utilization of the earth and the extent to which content is said to be exaggerated, with more emphasis on welfare. Findings of the research that the Quran outlines the basic values and practical substantive law in its management, including the principle underlying the utilization potential of the earth and the principle of maintenance. In order to take advantage of the potential of the earth, the Quran commands people to do the imarat al-aradh, that made the earth or the environment as a medium to realize the benefit of overall living creatures on earth. While the principle of its maintenance, the Quran emphasizes the importance of treating the environment well. One of the principles underlying the relationship between humans and nature are all beings have legal status muhtaram.

The Earth Sciences and Creative Practice

2013 ◽  
pp. 186-204
Author(s):  
Suzette Worden
Keyword(s):  
Earth Sciences ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
The Real ◽  
Creative Practice ◽  
Liminal Spaces ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Mining Heritage

Artists who engage with the earth sciences have been able to explore all kinds of information about the natural environment, including information about the atmosphere, extremes of physical formations across immense dimensions of time and space, and increasingly ‘invisible’ realms of materials at the nanoscale. This is a rich area for identifying the relationship between digital and material cultures as many artists working with this subject are crossing boundaries and testing out the liminal spaces between the virtual and the real. After an overview of theoretical links between visualisation and geology, mineralogy and crystallography, this chapter explores four themes: (1) environment and experience, (2) code and pattern, (3) co-creation and participation, and (4) mining heritage.

The Earth Sciences and Creative Practice

2014 ◽  
pp. 1342-1361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzette Worden
Keyword(s):  
Earth Sciences ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
The Real ◽  
Creative Practice ◽  
Liminal Spaces ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Mining Heritage

Artists who engage with the earth sciences have been able to explore all kinds of information about the natural environment, including information about the atmosphere, extremes of physical formations across immense dimensions of time and space, and increasingly ‘invisible’ realms of materials at the nanoscale. This is a rich area for identifying the relationship between digital and material cultures as many artists working with this subject are crossing boundaries and testing out the liminal spaces between the virtual and the real. After an overview of theoretical links between visualisation and geology, mineralogy and crystallography, this chapter explores four themes: (1) environment and experience, (2) code and pattern, (3) co-creation and participation, and (4) mining heritage.

scholarly journals Major Air Pollutants and Their Effects

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. S. Doreswamy ◽  
S. R. Sudheendra
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Thin Layer ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Pollution Problem ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Global World

Air pollution is the introduction of chemical, particulate matter or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment, into the atmosphere. The atmosphere is the thin layer of gases that surrounds the earth surfaces. Recently, environmental problems have been local and minor because of the earth's own ability to absorb and purify minor quantities of pollutants. The industrialization, introduction of more number of vehicles, and the explosion of the population, are contributing toward the growing air pollution problem. Knowing of major air pollutants and their effects are very important to global world.

scholarly journals Right-Wing Stewards: The Promoting Effect of Religiosity on Environmental Concern Among Political Conservatives in A Global Context

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peyman Hekmatpour
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Promoting Effect ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Meaningful Relationship ◽  
Final Sample ◽  
The Relationship

This article studies the relationship between individuals’ religiosity, political ideology, and environmental concern, in a cross-national setting. Drawing data from multiple waves of the World Values Survey (1999-2009), the final sample of this study includes 44,391 respondents nested in 43 countries. By using a multi-level modeling technique, I find that, in general, religiosity is positively associated with respondents’ environmental concerns in terms of willingness to pay for the environment, agreement with increased taxes to prevent environmental pollutions, and choosing environmental protection over economic interests. Political ideology, measured via individuals’ self-placement on a left-right continuum, does not have a meaningful relationship with environmental concern in a global setting. Nevertheless, I observe an interaction effect between religiosity and political ideology. Increased religiosity, particularly among more conservative individuals, is associated with a higher probability of environmental concern. Comparatively, religiosity virtually does not affect liberals’ concern for the natural environment. In other words, the gap between liberals and conservatives regarding the natural environment is more pronounced at lower levels of religiosity; as religiosity increases, the gap starts to narrow. Results suggest that religion has the potential to elevate some of the political barriers on the way towards reaching a collective environmental consciousness.

scholarly journals Right-Wing Stewards: The Promoting Effect of Religiosity on Environmental Concern among Political Conservatives in a Global Context

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peyman Hekmatpour
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Promoting Effect ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Meaningful Relationship ◽  
Final Sample ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This article studies the relationship between individuals’ religiosity, political ideology, and environmental concern, in a cross-national setting. Drawing data from multiple waves of the World Values Survey (1999–2009), the final sample of this study includes 44,391 respondents nested in 43 countries. By using a multi-level modeling technique, the study finds that religiosity is positively associated with respondents’ environmental concerns in terms of willingness to pay for the environment, agreement with increased taxes to prevent environmental pollution, and choosing environmental protection over economic interests. Political ideology, measured via individuals’ self-placement on a left-right continuum, does not have a meaningful relationship with environmental concern in a global setting. Nevertheless, there is an interaction effect between religiosity and political ideology. Increased religiosity, particularly among more conservative individuals, is associated with a higher probability of environmental concern. Comparatively, religiosity virtually does not affect liberals’ concern for the natural environment. The gap between liberals and conservatives regarding the natural environment is more pronounced at lower levels of religiosity; as religiosity increases, the gap starts to narrow. Results suggest that religion has the potential to elevate some of the political barriers on the way towards reaching a collective environmental consciousness.

scholarly journals Environmental Ethics

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-55
Author(s):  
Mfonobong David Udoudom ◽  
Okpe Okpe ◽  
Timothy Adie ◽  
Samuel Akpan Bassey
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
Practical Ethics ◽  
Ethical Norms ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Field Of Inquiry

Environmental ethics is an area that investigates the question of which ethical norms are appropriate for governing human interactions with the natural environment. Considered a branch of applied or practical ethics, environmental ethics has only existed as a subject since the late 1970s. However, concern about environmental problems is growing, and many philosophers claimed that the mainstream of ethics' only focus on humans' relationships with other humans leaving behind clear theoretical framework for ethically evaluating the relationship among humans and the nonhuman natural world. In response to this position, they recommended that a new field of inquiry was needed to investigate this matter directly. This paper looks into the thrust of environmental ethics. 

Beyond Ideology: Reassessing the Threat of Belarusian Opposition in Interwar Poland

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Daniel Fedorowycz
Keyword(s):  
Minority Groups ◽  
Explanatory Variable ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Interwar Poland ◽  
Radical Ideology ◽  
Single Block ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Level Of Analysis

Abstract The historical literature on interwar Polish policy on Belarusians and other minorities focuses primarily on the relationship between the regime in power and minority groups as a single block, failing to note instances in which regime policies toward specific organizations have not been uniform. Despite the fact that Belarusian ethnic identity was ambiguous and national consciousness low, no fewer than 13 political organizations in interwar Poland claimed to represent the minority. The most influential organization was the Belarusian Peasants’ and Workers’ Union Hromada. Less than two years after the organization’s inception, it was banned in 1927. This article examines why an organization like Hromada, which did not resort to violence and in fact took pains to operate within the legal framework of the Polish constitution, was shuttered by the state, while other organizations with similar profiles were allowed to operate. The article reveals that Hromada was not banned strictly due to what the government considered its radical ideology or because it was an antisystem party, but rather it was banned for its ability to suppress organizational pluralism among Belarusian organizations. The article advances the existing literature by (a) shifting away from analyzing the dynamics between a state and an ethnic group as a whole, by disaggregating the level of analysis to focus on minority political organizations, and by (b) going beyond ideology as the main explanatory variable dictating state policies toward minorities.

‘He Brought the Cold Death on my Harandra’: The Cosmic Trilogy and the Ecotheology of Laudato si'

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-182
Author(s):  
Maria Poggi Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
The Other ◽  
Space Travel ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Divine Will ◽  
The Relationship

In his trilogy of space travel novels, published between 1938 and 1945, C.S. Lewis strikingly anticipates, and incarnates in imaginative form, the insights and concerns central to the modern discipline of ecotheology. The moral and spiritual battle that forms the plot of the novels is enacted and informed by the relationship between humans and the natural environment, Rebellion against, and alienation from, the Creator inevitably manifests in a violent and alienated attitude to creation, which is seen as something to be mastered and exploited. Lives and cultures in harmony with the divine will, on the other hand, are expressed in relationships of care and respect for the environment. The imaginative premise of the Trilogy is that of ecotheology; that the human relationships with God, neighbour, and earth and are deeply and inextricably intertwined.

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