Environmental
Systems and
Societies
What the Syllabus tells us we need to know…..
7.1.1 State what is meant by an environmental value
system.
This is a particular world view or set of paradigms that shapes the way an individual
or group of people perceive and evaluate environmental
issues. This will be influenced by cultural (including religious), economic and
socio-political context.
An environmental value system is a system in the sense that it has inputs (for
example, education, cultural influences, religious doctrine, media) and
outputs (for example, decisions, perspectives, courses of action) determined by
processing these inputs.
7.1.2 Outline the range of environmental
philosophies
See figure on next page
7.1.3 Discuss how these philosophies
influence the decision-making
process with respect to
environmental issues covered in
this course.
7.1.4 Outline key historical influences on
the development of the modern
environmental movement.
Consider major landmarks, for example, Minamata, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring,
Bhopal, whaling (Save the Whale), Chernobyl, leading to
environmental pressure groups, both local and global, the concept of stewardship
and increased media coverage raising public awareness.
7.1.5 Compare and contrast the
environmental value systems of
two named societies.
The societies chosen should demonstrate significant differences, for example:
• First Nation Americans and European pioneers operating frontier economics,
which involved exploitation of seemingly unlimited resources
• Buddhist and Judaeo-Christian societies
• Communist and capitalist societies.
7.1.6 Justify your personal viewpoint on
environmental issues.
One way to look at the spectra
of environmental ideas……..
Environmental Value Systems
(EVS)
An Environmental Value System (EVS) is a particular worldview or set of
paradigms that shapes the way an individual, or group of people,
perceive and evaluate environmental issues.
Inputs
• The EVS Inputs are:
•
•
•
•
Education
Cultural influences
Religious texts and doctrine
The media
Outputs:
•
•
•
•
The EVS Outputs are:
Perspectives
Decisions on how at act regarding environmental issues
Course of action
Outputs
Inputs
Education
Culture
Media
Religion
Decisions
Environmental
value
systems
Actions
Attitudes
Ecocentrism
•
•
•
•
•
Nature-centered
Minimal disturbance of natural processes
Sustainability for the whole Earth
Self-imposed restraint on resource use
Somewhat the opposite of a technocentrist
Deep Ecologists
– Nature is important for the humanity of people.
– Ecological (natural) laws dictate human morality.
– Belief in biorights - the right of endangered
species or unique landscapes to remain
undisturbed.
– No faith in modern large-scale technology due to
its dependence on elitist expertise, central state
– Materialism is wrong. Economic growth should be
geared to provide for the poorest people.
Soft Ecologists
– Small-scale development builds better
communities.
– Integrate work and leisure through personal and
communal improvement.
– Important to participate in community affairs.
– No faith in modern large-scale technology due to
its dependence on elitist expertise, central state
– Materialism is wrong. Economic growth should be
geared to provide for the poorest people.
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
The tendency for human beings to regard
themselves as the central and most
significant entities in the universe
The assessment of reality through an
exclusively human perspective




The underlying reason why humanity
dominates and sees the need to “develop”
most of the Earth
Central problematic concept in environmental
philosophy
Sense of selfishness, not taking into
consideration the impact their actions have
on their surroundings
Puts humanity before everything
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
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocentris
m
http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/anthropocentric
http://louiskennedy.files.wordpress.com/201
1/02/munching-on-the-planet.jpg
TechnocentrismCornucopain
Technocentrism
Technocentrism: This is a personal value
in which is when a person believes that
technology should affect, control and
protect the environment.
Ecocentrism
Anthropocentrism
Technocentrism
nature-centered
people-centered
technology-centered
•Holistic world
view
•People as
environmental
managers of
•sustainable global
systems.
•Technology can keep pace with and provide solutions to environmental
•problems.
•Minimal
disturbance of
natural processes
•Population
•control given
equal weight to
resource use.
•Resource replacement
•solves resource depletion.
•Integrates
spiritual, social,
and environmental
dimensions
•Strong regulation
by independent
authorities
•required.
•Must understand natural processes in order to control them.
•Sustainability for
the whole Earth
•Emphasizes scientific analysis before policies are put in place.
•Self-reliance
within a framework
of global
citizenship
•Markets and economic growth are important.
•Self-imposed
restraint on
resource use
Cornucopians
Cornucopains: A cornucopian is
a futurist who believes that continued
progress and provision of material items
for mankind can be met by similarly
continued advances in technology.
Buddhist and Judaeo-Christian
Societies
Buddhist society
•
•
•
•
Eccocentric
Nature based
Believes in living in balance with nature
Believes in the importance of an intrinsic bond
between man and nature
• Believes that ecology dictates human morality
• Believes that nature has its own right
• Very different from Judaeo-Christian societies,
which are more human based and centered
around the rights of human beings
Judaeo-Christian Societies
• Anthropocentric
• Human based
• Believes that God created nature for the sake and for
the use of man
• Believes that man is in charge of ecology and
determines the rules of ecology and how to deal with it
• Believes that it’s their responsibility to take care of the
environment
• Believes that man can find a way out of any
environmental difficulty (not to be confused with
technocentrism.)
Communist Vs Capitalist
• Ideal For Equal
Distribution and No
Profit
• Restricted Voice For the
public means that all
parties are not heard
• Communist tends to be
“for the people”, thus
the environment comes
in second.
• Free Market means that
sound use of resources
• Civil Liberties Means
Voice Is Heard For All
Parties
• Capitalistic Lobbies
mean that if one party
with overt power,
environmental
protection not as large.
Communism
• Buna Chemicals In East Germany
• Chernobyl
• Helped protect interest of farmers, workers
and fishers, who thrive of good
environmental policies.
Capitalism
• Rise of capitalism may mean rise of polluters
ensuring lobbies to protect their own needs.
• May exploit weaker economic nations
through their environment
Reminders of important events
in ecological history
Major landmarks
• A new disease was discovered in Minamata
City in Japan, in 1956.
• It was found to be linked to the release of
methyl mercury into the waste-water
produced by a chemical factory.
• The mercury accumulated in shellfish and
fish along the coast; the contaminated fish
and shellfish were eaten by the local
population and caused mercury poisoning.
• American biologist Rachel Carson’s influential
book Silent Spring was published in 1962.
• It remains one of the most influential books of
the environmental movement.
• The book led to widespread concerns about
the use of pesticides and the pollution of the
environment.
• Protests about environmental disasters
and concern about the unsustainable use
of the Earth’s resources have led to the
formation of pressure groups.
• Greenpeace (one of the most influential)
which made its name in 1975 by
mounting an anti-whaling campaign.
• In the 1980s, Greenpeace made even
bigger headlines with its anti-nuclear
testing campaign.
• In 1986, reactor number four at the Chernobyl
plant in Ukraine exploded.
• A plume of highly radioactive dust was sent
into the atmosphere and fell over an extensive
area, which became contaminated.
• Caused increased incidences of cancer in the
most exposed areas.
• The incident raised issues concerning the
safety of Soviet nuclear power stations.
Bibliography
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8d/Tomokos_hand.gif
• http://messagesofkindness.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/rachel-carsonsilent-spring.jpg
• http://www.greenpeace.org/international/PageFiles/24145/cover-of-thebook-greenpeace.jpg
• http://blog.freshjive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/an-aerial-view-ofthe-chernobyl-nuclear-plant-in-ukraine-shows-damage-from-anexplosion-and-fire-in-one-of-the-reactors-that-sent-large-amounts-ofradioactive-material-into-the-atmosphere-april-26-1986.jpg