Deep Sustainability as Care: A Nondual Approach to Environmental Communication
Environmental Communication January 16, 2024 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2023.2296842 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
The essay proposes 'deep sustainability' as a philosophical stance for environmental communication, drawing on deep ecology and a nondual ontology from perennial wisdom. It argues that countering the uncaring neoliberal order requires moving beyond dualistic discourse toward a worldview of 'interbeing,' rooted in the lived experience of the interconnectedness or oneness of all life. Only when identity becomes all-inclusive and duality dissolves does caring for all beings—humans, trees, animals, other lifeforms—become effortless, leading to deep, lasting sustainability.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Deep sustainability requires a nondual worldview of interbeing, where dissolving duality leads to effortless care for all life and lasting sustainability. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT This essay suggests the concept of “deep sustainability” as a philosophical orientation for environmental communication scholars to address not only the empirical but also the ethical and ontological questions associated with sustainability. Drawing on the thoughts of deep ecology and founded in a nondual ontology with origins in perennial wisdom, it argues that in order to create a counterculture to the uncaring neoliberal order, there is a need to substantially increase awareness of the devastating implications of the dualistic discourse inherent to this order. What is required is a new and radically different worldview of “interbeing,” rooted in the lived experience of the interconnectedness – oneness – of all life. Extending research in the study of sustainability discourse, this essay contends that it is only when our identity in-group becomes all-inclusive, that is, when duality dissolves, that caring for all beings, be they humans, trees, animals, or other lifeforms, comes effortlessly and with deep – lasting – sustainability as the natural result.