Bioregionalism
Bioregionalism is an environmental movement that emphasizes the importance of local populations becoming self-sustaining based on the resources available within their surrounding bioregions. This concept emerged in the 1970s, driven by concerns about the alienation from one's land caused by modern global economic practices, technology, and consumerism. Advocates believe that humans are integral to the ecosystem and best pursue their welfare by living in harmony with their local environment.
A bioregion is defined by natural features, such as watersheds, rather than political boundaries, and is characterized by distinctive plants, animals, and climate. Bioregionalism encompasses a variety of approaches, promoting local economic systems, participatory democracy, and sustainable practices in architecture, agriculture, and resource management. The movement encourages the use of local materials, emphasizes the significance of local culture and economy, and supports grassroots initiatives aimed at environmental preservation and community well-being. While some critics view bioregionalism as impractical for larger populations, it has gained traction in contemporary discussions about sustainability and self-sufficient economies. Advocates highlight the long-term benefits of reconnecting with local resources to ensure environmental preservation for future generations.
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Bioregionalism
DEFINITION: Environmental movement that holds that local populations should be self-sustaining based on the resources of their surrounding bioregions and largely self-governing
Bioregionalists are concerned with reversing the alienation from the land that is evident in the modern global economy, with protecting the environment from unsustainable human exploitation, and with ensuring that natural resources remain abundant and diverse for future generations.
Bioregionalism rests on two basic existential principles: that humanity is but one component of the “web of life” (that is, the ecosystem) and that humans best pursue their own welfare by living in balance with the local environment. Bioregionalism began as a philosophical offshoot of the environmental movement during the 1970s. Among its early proponents were environmental activist Peter Berg, ecologist Raymond F. Dasmann, and poet Gary Snyder. They particularly worried that technology, consumerism, postmodern culture, and global economics were producing a rootless estranged from a sense of home and community. Bioregionalism is one of the “relocalization” movements seeking to reverse this trend.
A bioregion is an area defined by natural rather than political boundaries. It most commonly comprises a particular watershed, the plants, animals, climate, hydrology, and of which give it a distinctive character. In 1978, Berg and Dasmann argued that people must concentrate on “living-in-place,” which entails satisfying the necessities of life and enjoying life’s pleasures as they are available in a particular area, as well as ensuring their long-term availability. The approach is pragmatic: It assumes that people who live long in one place come to know it thoroughly, come to care about it, and want to take care of it.
Bioregionalism is an eclectic movement. It fosters an awareness of local economic and cultural assets by applying lessons from physical geography, ecology, management, sustainable agriculture, economics, literature, and political theory. For example, the bioregionalist approach to architecture involves the use of local materials and labor, as well as designs that reflect both regional traditions and the surrounding landscape while satisfying the requirements of present-day life. Bioregionalist political theory stresses participatory democracy and the resolution of social problems through the efforts of voluntary, nonprofit groups. Bioregionalist economics is centered on locally produced goods and services in place of imports and encourages recycling.
Bioregionalism is neither essentially hostile to technology nor divorced from global civilization. It acknowledges that bioregions are parts of larger economic, political, and cultural contexts but emphasizes local resources, both physical and intellectual. Moreover, bioregionalism is not doctrinaire. A variety of philosophical approaches and different kinds of activism—not all of them congruent—participate in or derive from bioregionalism. Among the organizations and movements it has fostered are grassroots environmental efforts to preserve natural features (such as Oregon’s Friends of Trees), conservancy, the “locavore” effort (a movement devoted to the promotion of eating only locally produced food), coordinated resource management plans, farmers’ markets, Green political parties, community-based alternative energy projects, and educational and research institutions, such as the Bioregional Congress.
Critics contend that bioregionalism is utopian and impractical, at least for large populations. Nonetheless, the movement attracted increasing interest during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries among persons interested in establishing self-sufficient economies, in preserving wildlife, and in safeguarding air and water against pollution.
Sustainability has become an increasingly important topic in the twenty-first century. Advocates for bioregionalism have presented the concept in these terms, emphasizing the long-term benefits of these practices.
Bibliography
"Bioregionalism Is a Vision of a Future That Works for People and for the Earth." Cascadia Department of Bioregion, cascadiabioregion.org/what-is-bioregionalism. Accessed 16 July 2024.
McGinnis, Michael Vincent. Bioregionalism. New York: Routledge, 1999.
Sale, Kirkpatrick. Dwellers in the Land: The Bioregional Vision. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2000.
Thayer, Robert L., Jr. LifePlace: Bioregional Thought and Practice. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
Wearne, Samuel, Ella Hubbard, Krisztina Jonas, and Maria Wilke. "A Learning Journey into Contemporary Bioregionalism." People and Nature, vol. 5, no. 6, 2023, pp. 2124-2140. DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10548. Accessed 16 July 2024.