Deep ecology understands beings as constituted by their relations, not as separate from environments

Evidence

We can therefore identify at the common heart of joint attention, care and ecology the same RELATIONAL CONCERN: as soon as we are conscious of being not so much autonomous ‘individuals’ as a certain ‘relation’ to a certain (physico-biological and social) environment, then the quality of our existence depends on our consideration of the quality of the relations that simultaneously weave our environment and our being. This relational concern marks the difference between what Arne Naess called ‘deep’ ecology in opposition to ‘superficial’ ecology. The latter considers the environment as an external resource from which we draw elements that are useful to our well-being. We are only concerned with protecting the resources in question, which are considered separately and discontinuously (drinkable water, petrol, wood, bauxite) – an approach encouraged by a dominant conception of scientific ‘analysis’. ‘Deep’ ecology (or ‘ecosophy’), on the contrary, is ‘relationalist’: entities do not exist outside of the relations that constitute them. … As soon as we distinguish between an individual and their environment (which is rich in various resources), we are practising a form of ‘environmentalism’ that betrays the deep truth of ecology – which is, on the contrary, rooted in a concern for the relation as such and does not permit us to speak of an ‘environment’ as something that could be distinguished from the being that inhabits it. — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 327

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s earlier work on grafting and trees as infrastructure — plants and humans alike defined by relational webs rather than standing alone. — connects to: Humans are constituted by their social relations rather than an intrinsic essence — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 2517; The socioecological approach treats mind and habitat as recursively co-created. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1640; Social being determines consciousness, not the reverse — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 2495 (+3 more)
• DEFINE: Clarifies the deep vs. superficial ecology distinction and the core term ‘relational concern’ that anchors the whole chapter.

Broader Connections

• Humans are constituted by their social relations rather than an intrinsic essence #corroborates (0.88) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 2517
• The socioecological approach treats mind and habitat as recursively co-created. #corroborates (0.85) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1640
• Social being determines consciousness, not the reverse #corroborates (0.75) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 2495