Deep Sustainability as Care: A Nondual Approach to Environmental Communication

The essay proposes 'deep sustainability' as a philosophical orientation for environmental communication, drawing on deep ecology and a nondual ontology from perennial wisdom. It argues that countering the uncaring neoliberal order requires increasing awareness of the devastating effects of dualistic discourse. The authors advocate for a worldview of 'interbeing' rooted in the lived experience of the interconnectedness—oneness—of all life. They contend that when identity becomes all-inclusive and duality dissolves, caring for all beings arises effortlessly, with deep, lasting sustainability as the natural result.

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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.