The Psychological Roots of Ecocide
The term "ecocide" has recently been coined to describe the potential danger we face. And even though the dangers are obviously linked to social and political factors, I believe it’s important to look into the psychological roots of "ecocide." What are the psychological causes of our abusive and exploitative attitude to nature?
In my view, there are two main psychological factors. The first is what I call our "over-developed sense of ego," or intensified sense of individuality. You could argue that this is the essential difference between Western so-called "civilised" peoples and tribal indigenous peoples. Most indigenous peoples don’t seem to exist as personal, self-sufficient egos to the same extent that we do. Their sense of identity seems to include their community and their land. For example, the anthropologist Silberbauer noted that for the G/wi people of the Kalahari Desert in Africa, identity was less more ‘group-referenced’ rather than individual, so that people would identify themselves in terms of their kin or another group (2). While according to Boydell, the indigenous peoples of Fiji have a concept of “the self-embedded-in-community [which] contrasts with the western value of individualism with its idea of the self as separate and separating from others.” (3).
Ecocide: The Psychology of Environmental Destruction
The term "ecocide" has recently been coined to describe the potential danger we face. And even though the dangers are obviously linked to social and political factors, I believe it’s important to look into the psychological roots of "ecocide." What are the psychological causes of our abusive and exploitative attitude to nature?
In my view, there are two main psychological factors. The first is what I call our "over-developed sense of ego," or intensified sense of individuality. You could argue that this is the essential difference between Western so-called "civilised" peoples and tribal indigenous peoples. Most indigenous peoples don’t seem to exist as personal, self-sufficient egos to the same extent that we do. Their sense of identity seems to include their community and their land. For example, the anthropologist Silberbauer noted that for the G/wi people of the Kalahari Desert in Africa, identity was less more ‘group-referenced’ rather than individual, so that people would identify themselves in terms of their kin or another group (2). While according to Boydell, the indigenous peoples of Fiji have a concept of “the self-embedded-in-community [which] contrasts with the western value of individualism with its idea of the self as separate and separating from others.” (3).
Ecocide: The Psychology of Environmental Destruction