"The Reaches of Freedom: A Response to An Ecomodernist Manifesto"

Crist, Eileen | from Multimedia Library Collection:
Periodicals

Crist, Eileen. “The Reaches of Freedom: A Response to An Ecomodernist Manifesto.” Environmental Humanities 7, no. 1 (2016): 245-54. doi:10.1215/22011919-3616452.

An Ecomodernist Manifesto’s ardent recommendations on some of the most salient ecological and social quandaries we face are motivated by a future world of “vastly improved material well-being, public health, resource productivity, economic integration, shared infrastructure, and personal freedom.” The Manifesto calls for building a global civilization that is cosmopolitan, connected, and high-tech, in which all people enjoy social and political freedoms and can partake of other liberties that modernity valorizes, especially access to goods and technologies, mobility, and diverse opportunities. The world that the Manifesto hopes to see globalized is one where modern privileges are shared—from longevity and a modern standard of living, to rule of law and liberation from want. This world of universal prosperity can be achieved, the authors claim, on an ecologically vibrant planet. For the Manifesto such a future is well worth pursuing as it realizes a core value: human freedom. (Author’s introduction)

© Eileen Crist 2016. Environmental Humanities is available online only and is published under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).