Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution

(Hardback)

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Description

A prominent scientist and scholar documents and explains the thoughts, actions, and legacies of spiritual ecology's pioneers from ancient times to the present, demonstrating how the movement may offer the last chance to restore a healthy relationship between humankind and nature. An internet search for "Spiritual Ecology" and related terms like "Religion and Nature" and "Religion and Ecology" reveals tens of millions of websites. Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution offers an intellectual history of this far-reaching movement. Arranged chronologically, it samples major developments in the thoughts and actions of both historic and contemporary pioneers, ranging from the Buddha and St. Francis of Assisi to Wangari Maathai's Green Belt Movement and James Cameron's 2010 epic film Avatar. This foundational book is unique in that it provides a historical, cross-cultural context for understanding and advancing the ongoing spiritual ecology revolution, considering indigenous and Asian religious traditions as well as Western ones. Most chapters focus on a single pioneer, illuminating historical context and his/her legacy, while also connecting that legacy to broader concerns. Coverage includes topics as diverse as Henry David Thoreau and the Green Patriarch Bartholomew's decades-long promotion of environmentalism as a sacred duty for more than 250 million members of the Orthodox Church worldwide. For more information, visit www.spiritualecology.info.

Reviews

This is a valuable and challenging work that deserves wide reading and consideration. * Current Anthropology *
Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. * Choice *
[T]he book . . . [has] value as a compendium of diverse material so presented as to promote a worthy cause. * Human Ecology *
This is a wide-ranging and impressively informed book. . . . The book brings into comparative focus a splendid collection of spiritually inspired persons and movements whose exemplary ideas, convictions, and actions have significant bearing on the field of environmental thought and action. * Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture *

Author Bio

Leslie E. Sponsel, PhD, is professor emeritus in anthropology at the University of Hawai'i, Honolulu, HI, where he developed and directed the Ecological Anthropology Program for three decades.