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Contents contributed and discussions participated by Zach Holz

Zach Holz

"Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things" by Jane Bennett - 2 views

started by Zach Holz on 16 Mar 12 no follow-up yet
  • Zach Holz
     
    This books states that it is a philosophical and political meditation on how to better incorporate the power of "things" into our ways-of-seeing. The author, Jane Bennet, argues that there is an "active power" issuing from nonsubjects, nonhumans, ostensibly "dead" stuff-what she terms things. These "things" can be, well, just about anything: a piece of tin foil, a dead rat, a cigarette butt, fatty acids, stem cells, electricity. (Already you might be able to get a sense at how confusing this argument will get.) The purpose of her book, she states in the preface, is "to encourage more intelligent and sustainable engagements with vibrant matter and lively things" (viii). What this means is to ask big questions about the ways we conceive of agency, and the historical legacy Western political and philosophical thought has left us with-a legacy that Bennett argues keeps the nonhuman actant out of our discourse.

    For me, much of what Bennett has to say concerns a more intentional, aware, and meaningful way-of-seeing. By this, I mean that when we look at what we consider an "object" (a pencil or a piece of plastic or our food) we attempt to fully consider the incredible network of actors, human and nonhuman, that helped to shape, create, or somehow deliver that "thing" to you in that moment. It's about seeing a commodity chain, about sensing that the food you eat is not "inert" or "dead" but is "lively" in the sense that it makes a change in you. Bennett's meditation is trying to stretch the limits of what "agency" means-in fact, it questions whether or not humans themselves even have agency to begin with, given that we are assemblages of nonhuman things ourselves, and that the stuff that makes us up can never be fully human. A key point she makes: waste and trash never actually go away.
Zach Holz

Santorum ponders an eco-theology - 0 views

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    In this piece, New Yorker writer reports on recent remarks by Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum claiming that Obama's environmental and energy agenda constitute a "theology." When questioned further on his line of reasoning, Santorum said, "Radical environmentalism...[is] this idea that man is here to serve the earth rather than to husband and steward the earth's resources." I mean, to be honest, I don't take Santorum seriously. However, what do we think of his argument here? After having recently read Shellenberger and Nordhaus's argument in their opening to their new book "Love Your Monsters," Santorum's statements here struck me as, well, pretty similar to some of what S&N are saying. S&N say that environmentalism has all the touches of a theology; so does Santorum. (They say the same thing for different reasons, of course.) Has environmentalism become a theology? And by conceptualizing it as a theology, do we presuppose some sort of inherent antagonism between Science and Religion?
Zach Holz

US Climate Scientists Fight Back After Years of Skepticism - 0 views

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    This is an interesting little piece of news -- three concerned scientists have launched a new website where anyone interesting in asking a question about climate change can submit one through their forum, and they will respond to you by your requested date. One of the scientists believes in particular that it is time for scientists to take an active role in shifting US sentiment back towards the fact of climate change. It is being launched not necessarily in reaction to the new Congress elected, but regardless -- it is timely that some well regarded climate scientists are taking the problem of public education on. We've had lots of discussions on whether or not scientists should do such things like advocate for policy change, and unfortunately I'm more concerned by how this move to create this website will be analyzed rather than effectively used.
Zach Holz

Collective Action Against the Loud Sun Chip Bag; Or, Why we Are Doomed - 0 views

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    In this Mother Jones piece, we learn about how consumers angry about Frito Lay's noisy new SunChip bag -- which, as the company touts on their website, is 100% compostable, and which you can actually watch it happen over the course of 14 weeks in your backyard compost pile -- have somehow applied enough of their angst against the company, and have gotten them to drop the noisy bag. Most likely because they couldn't hear the television over it. The author also has some interesting discussion of aesthetic concerns in our consumer choices from fluorescent lights to plant fiber bags, and how sometimes, at the root, it appears we value softer light and quieter bags more than we do environmental impact.
Zach Holz

Buying Local Has Its Price - 1 views

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    An article run recently in the Portland Tribune details the price disparity between the local fruit of farmers markets and the local fruit sold at other shops throughout Portland. On one end are the sometimes obscene prices of farmers markets, tailoring to a predominantly wealthy white clientele, and on the other, you have prices at fruit stand shops that are for a blue collar society, sold at often over half the cost of farmers markets. A strange economic situation underlies the difference. Are Portland's own renowned farmers markets, cherished by so many, tailoring exclusively to rich white folks?
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