Critique of Deep Ecology

by Ramachandra Guha

The central views of deep ecology according to Guha:

1. A shift from an “anthropocentric” to a “biocentric” attitude. (Compare: “All life has intrinsic worth.”)

2. An emphasis on wilderness preservation.

3. Invocation of Eastern spirituality as the philosophy’s pedigree. (Compare Ruether’s “Gaia.”)

4. Self-portrayal as the “leading edge” of environmentalism.

Guha’s critique:

1. Talk of the sin of anthropocentrism obscures the real problems, which are:

(a) “overconsumption by the industrialized world and by urban elites in the Third World”

(b) “growing militarization.”

The complexities of these problems cannot be reduced to deep ecology’s proposed change of attitude.

2. Emphasis on wilderness preservation is harmful to the Third World (it is also ineffective), since it places the interests of tourists and tigers, for instance, above that of villagers’ subsistence.

NB. Attempts at wilderness preservation in Africa and India have been ineffective because of poaching and encroachment, except in some places such as South Africa where there are high fences and well-financed police.

3. Deep ecology has no Eastern pedigree but is the radical edge of the “wilderness preservation movement” in the U.S. The invocation of Eastern thought distorts it, propagating an idea of India, for instance, as eternally “Other” to the West, as mystical and intuitive as opposed to rational and calculating.

4. Deep ecology is hardly the cutting edge of enviromentalism but is rather a manifestation of the consumerism of the U.S. (which is a big part of the real problem). Evidence: the American family who “to enjoy nature” will drive a thousand miles to spend a holiday in a national park (p. 79).

NB. Driving such a distance would consume lots of gas and drive up the family’s “ecological footprint” which would presumably be already too large.

Guha’s endorsement of alternative trends within American environmentalism: (a) research and development of benign technologies as well as encouragement of less wasteful lifestyles and (b) peace movements. See deepecology.htm (the answer to the objection about social injustice).