A culture’s real internal problems do not negate the sustainability lessons it offers.

Evidence

Further, we can acknowledge the challenges faced by a culture without detracting from the lessons we can learn from it. For example, the culture of Ladakh (in northern India), which we have mentioned a couple of times in this book, has high infant/child mortality and has issues with ethnic division. None of that, however, undermines the fact that the Ladakhi have lived sustainably for hundreds of years in a difficult mountain environment without noticeably reducing the region’s ability to support life. Many members of these cultures who spend time in the modern world decide to return to the traditional practices and beliefs of their communities. Some cultures have tentatively adopted some aspects of modern culture, par ticu - larly technologies that help make their lives easier without undermining their community. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 1584

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to ch37 on Ladakhi modernization pressures earlier in the same book. — connects to: Ecojustice educators must honor indigenous knowledges without appropriating or speaking for them — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 1568; Accusations of romanticizing can mask a refusal to credit Indigenous ecological knowledge. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 1581; Rich sustainable knowledge already exists and does not require reinvention by experts. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 1735

Broader Connections

• Rich sustainable knowledge already exists and does not require reinvention by experts. #corroborates (0.85) — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 1735