Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species

by Peter H. Kahn Jr. (Editor), Patricia H. Hasbach (Editor)

Overview

An ecopsychology that integrates our totemic selves—our kinship with a more than human world—with our technological selves.

We need nature for our physical and psychological well-being. Our actions reflect this when we turn to beloved pets for companionship, vacation in spots of natural splendor, or spend hours working in the garden. Yet we are also a technological species and have been since we fashioned tools out of stone. Thus one of this century's central challenges is to embrace our kinship with a more-than-human world—"our totemic self"—and integrate that kinship with our scientific culture and technological selves.

This book takes on that challenge and proposes a reenvisioned ecopsychology. Contributors consider such topics as the innate tendency for people to bond with local place; a meaningful nature language; the epidemiological evidence for the health benefits of nature interaction; the theory and practice of ecotherapy; Gaia theory; ecovillages; the neuroscience of perceiving natural beauty; and sacred geography. Taken together, the essays offer a vision for human flourishing and for a more grounded and realistic environmental psychology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262304399
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	07/20/2012
Series:	The MIT Press
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	360
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Peter H. Kahn, Jr., is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington, author of Technological Nature (MIT Press), and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Ecopsychology. He is coauthor (Patricial H. Hasbach) of The Rediscovery of the Wild (MIT Press).

Patricia H. Hasbach is a licensed clinical psychotherapist in private practice in Eugene, Oregon, and a faculty member in the Department of Counseling Psychology at Lewis & Clark College, where she is codirector of the Ecopsychology Certificate Program. Hasbach and Peter H. Kahn, Jr., are coeditors of Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species (MIT Press, 2012).

Andrew Fisher has worked in the anti-hunger field for twenty-five years, as the executive director of national and local food groups, and as a researcher, organizer, policy advocate, and coalition builder. He has led successful efforts to gain passage of multiple pieces of federal food and nutrition legislation.

Peter H. Kahn, Jr., is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington, author of Technological Nature (MIT Press), and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Ecopsychology. He is coauthor (Patricial H. Hasbach) of The Rediscovery of the Wild (MIT Press).

Patricia H. Hasbach is a licensed clinical psychotherapist in private practice in Eugene, Oregon, and a faculty member in the Department of Counseling Psychology at Lewis & Clark College, where she is codirector of the Ecopsychology Certificate Program. Hasbach and Peter H. Kahn, Jr., are coeditors of Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species (MIT Press, 2012).

Patricia H. Hasbach is a licensed clinical psychotherapist in private practice in Eugene, Oregon, and a faculty member in the Department of Counseling Psychology at Lewis & Clark College, where she is codirector of the Ecopsychology Certificate Program. Hasbach and Peter H. Kahn, Jr., are coeditors of Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species (MIT Press, 2012).

Lynn Margulis (1938–2011) was Distinguished Professor of Botany at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. An evolutionary theorist and biologist, science author, and educator, Margulis was the modern originator of the symbiotic theory of cell evolution. Once considered heresy, her ideas are now part of the microbiological revolution.

Peter H. Kahn, Jr., is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington, author of Technological Nature (MIT Press), and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Ecopsychology. He is coauthor (Patricial H. Hasbach) of The Rediscovery of the Wild (MIT Press).

Patricia H. Hasbach is a licensed clinical psychotherapist in private practice in Eugene, Oregon, and a faculty member in the Department of Counseling Psychology at Lewis & Clark College, where she is codirector of the Ecopsychology Certificate Program. Hasbach and Peter H. Kahn, Jr., are coeditors of Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species (MIT Press, 2012).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

About the Contributors ix

Introduction to Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species Peter H. Kahn Patricia H. Hasbach 1

1 The Topophilia Hypothesis: Ecopsychology Meets Evolutionary Psychology Scott Donald Sampson 23

2 A Nature Language Peter H. Kahn Jolina H. Ruckert Patricia H. Hasbach 55

3 What Is Ecopsychology? A Radical View Andy Fisher 79

4 Ecotherapy Patricia H. Hasbach 115

5 Building the Science Base: Ecopsychology Meets Clinical Epidemiology Howard Frumkin 141

6 Ecovillages: Information Tools and Deeply Sustainable Living Lisa Nathan 173

7 Can Architecture Become Second Nature? An Emotion-Based Approach to Nature-Oriented Architecture Yannick Joye 195

8 Psychological Discontent: Self and Science on Our Symbiotic Planet Bruce Scofield Lynn Margulis 219

9 Psychoterratic Conditions in a Scientific and Technological World Glenn Albrecht 241

10 Beauty and the Brain Laura Sewall 265

11 Sacred Geography Wade Davis 285

Afterword Peter H. Kahn Patricia H. Hasbach 309

Name Index 323

Subject Index 335

What People are Saying About This

Jack Turner

The essays contained in Ecopsychology are the benchmark from which all subsequent elaborations of the discipline will proceed. The introduction and the afterword, by Peter Kahn and Paticia Hasbach, neatly summarize ecopsychology's history, achievements, and challenges. The book does not propose regression to romantic, pre-technological view of nature but rather the use of modern empirical science to forge a fusion between our natural love of the earth,its health, and our own — physical and spiritual. This is the canonical text of a new and exciting discipline.

Donald Johanson

This remarkable collection of stunningly important papers remind us of our deep evolutionary, biological and emotional connection to the natural world. Our species, Homo sapiens, undoubtedly the most intelligent and powerful species on Earth, must revere our creator, Nature. Nature nourishes and we must nourish Nature and responsibly embrace our responsibilities to ensure the future of all life on this delicate planet.

Richard Louv

By bringing so many thoughtful and provocative thinkers together, Peter Kahn and Patricia Hasbach have prescribed a 21st century human-nature reunion through which individuals, families, and communities offer and receive the gifts of nature; a future in which, as a species, we no longer feel alone; and a world where life returns.

From the Publisher

The essays contained in Ecopsychology are the benchmark from which all subsequent elaborations of the discipline will proceed. The introduction and the afterword, by Peter Kahn and Paticia Hasbach, neatly summarize ecopsychology's history, achievements, and challenges. The book does not propose regression to romantic, pre-technological view of nature but rather the use of modern empirical science to forge a fusion between our natural love of the earth, its health, and our own—physical and spiritual. This is the canonical text of a new and exciting discipline.

—Jack Turner, author of The Abstract Wild

By bringing so many thoughtful and provocative thinkers together, Peter Kahn and Patricia Hasbach have prescribed a 21st century human-nature reunion through which individuals, families, and communities offer and receive the gifts of nature; a future in which, as a species, we no longer feel alone; and a world where life returns.

—Richard Louv, author of The Nature Principle and Last Child in the Woods

This remarkable collection of stunningly important papers remind us of our deep evolutionary, biological and emotional connection to the natural world. Our species, Homo sapiens, undoubtedly the most intelligent and powerful species on Earth, must revere our creator, Nature. Nature nourishes and we must nourish Nature and responsibly embrace our responsibilities to ensure the future of all life on this delicate planet.

—Donald Johanson, Professor and Founding Director, Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University