Arne Naess, "The Shallow and Deep Ecology Movement" : Saving the World in Seven Points

Arne Naess is careful to distinguish the conceptual foundations and practical agenda of "deep ecology" from its shallower cousin, which Naess identifies with the effort to reduce pollution and resource depletion in isolation from broader questions concerning human ways of life as a whole. This "shallow ecology" is very much on the to-do list of many prominent governmental and non-governmental elites, but in Naess' view it is Deep Ecology which in fact resonates with a much broader audience, which he appears to identify as any of the critics or discontents of modern global capitalism. Deep Ecology represents a much more comprehensive series of prescriptions than merely fighting global warming or saving endangered species; indeed, for Naess it is a "system" or "ecosophy" of wideranging normative and deeply political claims, which generally fall into seven key points:

1. A systemic orientation, whereby systems (such as the biosphere) must be thought of as greater than the sum of their parts, rather than in terms of individual entities which ostensibly compose them.

2. Biospheric egalitarianism: a total rejection of anthropocentrism in principle, even if implementation of this ethic must progress in stages which contain vestiges of "exploitation and repression".

3. Principles of diversity and symbiosis; that is, that diversity in both the non-human and human spehres (in terms of cultures, traditions, economies, etc.) as well as a "live-and-let live" ethic are guiding principles.

4. Anti-class posture: as a consequence of this preference for diversity and cooperation over competition, dominating social structures by any group over another are reprobated.

5. Combating resource depletion and pollution: This point is fairly obvious, but Naess is keen to emphasize that it should not be taken in isolation from the others (such would be "shallow" ecology).

6. Complexity, not complication: This point is part epistemelogical and part practical, emphasizing the limits of human knowledge in regard to complex systems such as the natural world and an "elastic" approach to problem-solving, which Naess argues would combine conservative and radical principles in its political approach.

7. Local autonomy and decentralization: The value of diversity as well as the negative ecological effects of globalization entail a preference for local decision making and self-government.

Some questions for Naess' ecological program arise from the tension between this preference for decentralization and the seeming need for centralized power to effect some of the other sweeping changes he advocates; Naess notes this apparent contradiction but does not fully attempt to reconcile these positions. More broadly, the platform of the Deep Ecology movement stands for changes with "consequences for all aspects of human life"; one wonders as to the prospects for such a movement, given that they aim to change the material conditions of human existence in a manner that has not been accomplished since the Industrial Revolution: and that development was not a directed, normatively-driven shift.

The question then, is of the moral and political merits of this prospective Deep Ecological Revolution, and perhaps whether it stands to gain any traction in the world as we find it.