The limits of the shallow and the deep

Green politics, philosophy, and praxis

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4329554
AutoresJohn Barry (0000-0002-6543-7698, School of International Relations, autor de correspondencia)
Año1994
Volumen3
Número3
Páginas369-394
Fecha de publicación1994-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEnvironmental Politics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0964-4016 • E-ISSN: 1743-8934
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09644019408414152
OpenAlexW1998963776
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas12
Referencias citadas39

Although it is commonly held to constitute the dominant cleavage within green politics, the convention of dividing green politics into ‘shallow’ and ‘deep’ aspects is problematic. Exclusive reliance on it to map out green political theory can lead to a one‐dimensional and incomplete conception of the green political landscape. The distinction this division represents is primarily philosophical rather than political. A related issue concerns how the development of a realistic and coherent green politics is hampered by the continuing hegemony of this axis, due principally to the disproportionate influence of deep ecology. Green politics is about values and the moral dimension of human/social‐nature relations, but it is also about political and economic change. There is a connection between the two, but the deep/shallow dichotomy does little to make the character of this relationship clear. Debate is needed on the relationship between green philosophy and politics. In describing the nature of this relationship, one is also prescribing a particular understanding of green politics. The reconciliation of green philosophy and politics depends on seeing that the normative basis of green politics includes a concern with the human social world and its organisation, as much as a moral concern with the non‐human world. In questioning the utility of this dichotomy, issues of political praxis and the undeveloped nature of a green political economy should be highlighted. These concerns tend to be crowded out by the over‐emphasis on the ecocentric philosophical basis of green politics engendered by the theoretical hegemony of the deep/shallow cleavage

Deep ecology · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Hegemony · Normative · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Praxis · Sociology · Climate Change and Geoengineering · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics · Law · Philosophy · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics