That future age of which we can only dream

Exploring the origins of the climate crisis in the Story of Progress

Bibliographic Data

ID4881863
AuthorsM B Smith (0000-0001-6804-6441, Department of History Ithaca College Ithaca New York USA, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume57
Issue4
Pages396-408
Publication date2021-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-5061 • E-ISSN: 1520-6696
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/jhbs.22133
PMID34542170
OpenAlexW3201015934
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited43

The principal source of the ecological ruptures planet Earth is currently experiencing-the unfolding climate emergency above all-is a story a small subset of humans have been telling themselves and living according to the precepts for about 300 years. Slowly and often reluctantly the number of adherents to this story has grown until there are few places on the planet where the story does not hold at least partial sway. Over the past 300 years, the Story of Progress has evolved from a possibility to an article of faith. Examining the history of the Story of Progress makes visible the degree to which the idea of Progress has become woven into language itself, making it difficult to articulate other possibilities-and, therefore, difficult to escape the story that has produced a catastrophic climate crisis

Dream · Environmental ethics · Political science · Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature · Environmental, Ecological, and Cultural Studies · History · Neuroscience · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics