Denying dependence on nature sustains non-sustainable resource use.

Evidence

What is involved in the backgrounding of nature is the denial of dependence on biospheric processes, and a view of humans as apart, outside of nature, which is treated as a limitless provider without needs of its own. Dominant western culture has systematically inferiorised, backgounded and denied dependency on the whole sphere of reproduction and subsistence. This denial of dependency is a major factor in the perpetuation of the non-sustainable modes of using nature which loom as such a threat to the future of western society. — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 104

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces ‘backgrounding’ — a central ecofeminist analytic term for nature’s denial-as-limitless-provider.
• XREF: Backgrounding of nature as limitless provider connects to the eco-justice thread on sustainable modes of living and to Merchant’s account of nature as resource. — connects to: The ethics boundary contains nihilism within nature to protect the human sphere — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 538; Metaphysical unity with nature justifies exploitation no less than conservation — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 671; Denying climate change’s reality and human origin frees polluting from moral self-sanctions — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2730 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Viewing humans as separate from nature enables resource exploitation without conscience. #corroborates (0.92) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1009
• Denying climate change’s reality and human origin frees polluting from moral self-sanctions #exemplifies (0.82) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2730
• Metaphysical unity with nature justifies exploitation no less than conservation #qualifies (0.78) — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 671