Through Her Own Eyes: Environmental Rhetoric in Women’s Autobiographical Frontier Writing identifies frontier women, those who traveled overland to the West and those who homesteaded, as historical ecofeminists. The purpose of this study is to analyze frontier women’s environmental rhetoric in their journals and letters, which encouraged readers to become closer to nature and get to know it while encountering new land in the West. Promoting a close relationship with nature, frontier women’s writing also implied conserving and protecting nature for future generations, which demonstrates how they can be retroactively labeled ecofeminists. Frontier women’s environmental rhetoric reveals their alignment with Carolyn Merchant’s theory for harmony between humankind and nature: partnership ethics. Although many historians have mentioned frontier women’s emphasis on nature in their narratives, few have explored frontier women’s nature writing at length. Glenda Riley has completed a book-length study of early American women environmentalists, but she mentions only women whose environmental work led to documented activism or membership in conservation organizations. Annette Kolodny’s work focused on frontier women’s fantasies about the west, rather than their environmental rhetoric as a way of persuading readers, whereas my work uses frontier women’s daily writing to demonstrate an evolving environmental ethic that helps to categorize them as historical ecofeminists. An archival project, this study relies upon the archived overland journals of Sarah Sutton and Nancy Sherwin, both housed at UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library as well as the letters of female homesteader Elinore Pruitt Stewart, archived at the Sweetwater County Museum. A visit to the archives at the Sweetwater County Museum yielded the treasure of Elinore Pruitt Stewart’s numerous unpublished letters. Frontier women’s philosophical alignment with ecofeminism made it possible for ecological philosophies to begin taking root in the American West. As historical ecofeminists, frontier women’s writing laid the foundation for the modern-day ecological conscience that makes individuals work to conserve nature for future generations.

The concept of sustainable development is increasingly common within international and national policy documents. Operationalising this concept has however proven to be problematic. The dissertation presents an explanatory model, which identifies that while economic factors are important within decision-making, ethical motivations are also changing the way firms operate. In response to a collective expression of environmentalism within society, government and industry, and proactive firms have begun incorporating sustainable development into decision-making. However, the organisational change necessary to implement these measures is identified as a complex process, dependant upon a strong organisational culture. Tourism agencies support the concept of sustainable development, citing a symbiotic relationship between product quality and the environment. However, with tourism numbers projected to double within the next 20 years, some question Australia’s capacity to maintain enduring environmental quality and to service the infrastructure demands of residents and tourists. To date, policy preference has predominantly focused on self-regulatory mechanisms that produce cost reductions and have promoted market driven corporate responsibility. While these factors have influenced proactive firms, within tourism accommodation this is generally not the case. This is due to the perception that sustainable practice impinges upon guest satisfaction and that evidence of a green consumer is yet to be identified and quantified in this highly competitive and price sensitive sector. The multi-disciplinary, mixed method inquiry process used in this study, employing quantitative and qualitative methods, provided rich data that supports the ethical and organisational propositions within the model. The study proposes that mechanisms designed in concert with critical sector issues are more likely to result in the development of effective policy to improve environmental performance. With accommodation properties tending to be either small or large multi-nationals, it was found that drivers are not consistent over property type, given differing decision-making frameworks. In addition, there was evidence of a lack of awareness of the environmental consequences of tourism and of practices to improve environmental outcomes. It is proposed, that incorporating the concept of environmental quality into existing service quality frameworks, currently supported by strong organisational cultures, are likely to moderate knowledge and performance deficiencies identified within the study.

In this dissertation I consider the nature of the relationship between orientation and language-habits in the context of environmental ethics. Specifically, I focus on the problem of orientation as a way of understanding the unabated trend of anthropocentrism in the dominant Western language-culture. Orientation operates as the attitudes, beliefs, and feelings in relation to something that we embody in our lived experiences. One way that we communicate our orientation in relation to the land is through our language-habits. In considering our language-habits, I conceptualize a process I call conceptual autopoiēsis. Conceptual autopoiēsis is the co-evolutionary coupling process of the language-habits and language-cultures of human orientation, which recreates the initial conditions of the reproduction of the specific concepts embodied in that given orientation, language-habit, and language-culture. I show how our orientation to the land is embodied in our language-habits and language-cultures. I show how orientation, language-habit, language-culture, and conceptual autopoiēsis all function as the environment from which we select the very conceptualization of our orientation and the language we use to do so. More specifically, metaphysical anthropocentrism is a kind of orientation that assumes a dualistic relationship to the land that perpetuates a disconnect from Nature that makes it impossible to have an ecocentric land ethic. I argue that in order to advance the language-habits and language-cultures that can cultivate a more ecocentric orientation capable of living in harmony with nature, we must first understand how the conceptual autopoiēsis of language-habits and language-cultures of the current Western orientation continue to orient us as separate from Nature.

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Dans ce mémoire, nous étudierons la place que devrait occuper en éthique environnementale, la notion de valeur intrinsèque de la nature, et nous critiquerons l’approche pragmatique qui rejette cette dernière. Pour Bryan G. Norton, l’un des pères du pragmatisme en éthique environnementale, la notion de valeur intrinsèque est un frein à la mise en place de politiques publiques en environnement. Nous défendrons, au contraire, l’idée que cette notion peut jouer un rôle essentiel en éthique environnementale en servant de base commune à l’établissement de politiques pouvant lutter efficacement contre des problématiques mondiales en environnement. Pour ce faire, nous commencerons par présenter l’approche pragmatique et ses critiques des théories de la valeur intrinsèque de la nature. Dans un second temps, nous critiquerons certains aspects du pragmatisme pour montrer que cette approche possède des défauts pouvant être comblés par la notion de valeur intrinsèque. Le caractère inadéquat d’une approche purement pragmatique face à des enjeux mondiaux en environnement ayant été établi, nous articulerons finalement la notion de valeur intrinsèque de la nature telle que la conçoit J. Baird Callicott. Ce faisant, nous établirons la base métaphysique permettant de soutenir l’existence de ce type de valeur pour les espèces et nous montrerons, grâce à Willis Jenkins, qu’une approche pragmatique peut être compatible avec la notion de valeur intrinsèque de la nature, moyennant certains aménagements. La notion de valeur intrinsèque de la nature peut ainsi jouer un rôle crucial en éthique environnementale et il est de notre devoir de résister aux tentatives de marginalisation la visant. / In this paper, we will study the place that the notion of intrinsic value in nature should take in environmental ethics and we will criticize pragmatism for rejecting the notion of intrinsic value. For Bryan G. Norton, one of the forefathers of environmental pragmatism, the notion of intrinsic value is an obstacle to the establishment of public environmental policies. Contrary to this belief, we will argue that this notion can play an essential part in environmental ethics as a common ground for establishing global politics able to respond to international environmental issues. For this purpose, we will first present the pragmatic approach and its arguments against the use of intrinsic value in nature. On this basis, we will then criticize some aspects of environmental pragmatism in order to show that this position is not flawless and that some shortcomings could be remediated with the use of the notion of intrinsic value in nature. The inadequacy of a purely pragmatic position in regard to global environmental threat having been shown, we will finally present the notion of intrinsic value in nature as conceived by J. Baird Callicott. This presentation will give us the essentials tools to establish the metaphysical foundation of the intrinsic value for species. We will finally show, with the help of Willis Jenkins position, that environmental pragmatism can be compatible with the use of intrinsic value in nature. Intrinsic value in nature can play a crucial role in environmental ethics and we should consequently resist to those who treat this notion as irrelevant.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:19:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 4628556 bytes, checksum: 73e3fc950fa8c14dab7d4e44f05b0f6d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work focused on living in Viçosa, MG, from the viewpoint of its population, using as reference its social environmental problems, and supported by theoretical discussions on urban sustainability and the new environmental ethics. The objective of this work was to identify the possibilities and/or limitations in implementing urban sustainability and the new environmental ethics. The qualitative research was guided by the following sources: secondary data; photographic documentation; interviews; Viçosa Municipal Chamber s meeting minutes from 2001 to 2010; and local newspaper articles from 2001 to 2011. The sources investigated showed that the process of transformation of Vicosa s urban space had as its main driving force the creation of ESAV in 1922 today s Universidade Federal de Vicosa (UFV) attracting professionals and students. This process took place at an accelerated pace, without planning. Based on the photographic analyses, it was possible to detect some signs of the changes in the urban scenario as a result of these events. Different changes were brought about by the main local agents: the political power, the real estate agencies, federal entities, the floating population, and the permanent population. These transformations had a negative impact on the city of Viçosa, such as the environmental hazards reflected in the landscape, generating problems to the population, such as illegal constructions (in permanent protection areas); São Bartolomeu Stream pollution ; accelerated construction of skyscrapers; traffic jam; sound and visual pollution; garbage in the streets; and poorly maintained sidewalks and streets. Overall, the data found in the weekly newspaper Folha da Mata and in the Municipal Chamber s meeting minutes are rather similar. As the sources reveal, the population is mainly concerned with the city s infrastructure, often requesting improvements and solutions for their particular streets or suburbs, despite the fact that these problems exist throughout the city. However timidly, the population s manifestations signal a more critical view of the reality. The interview analyses show that most the interviewees are aware of the problems faced by Vicosa, and of the effect such problems have on their own life. However, most do not perceive themselves as responsible and co-participators in creating these problems, attributing both the causes and power to solve them to the local public government and to the UFV. Despite that, some perceptions point to the possibility of achieving changes, such as the value attributed to popular participation in the process of transformation, and in the decisionmaking process involving sustainable actions, shown by different interviewees. Even though it is impossible to generalize, these specific manifestations represent the beginning of a process of construction of urban sustainability. The liabilities are related to the attitude of some citizens who do not see themselves as co-participators in this process of transformation and /or, in the solution of the problems. However, one should bear in mind that, since this work focus on the population s perception of living in Viçosa, using as reference its social environmental issues, these actors are just part of a process involving other actors: speculative real state agents; and the State, represented by the local public power and by the UFV, which, while responsible for Vicosa s prominent status in the national scenario, is equally responsible for its problems, being, thus, part of the process. / Este trabalho focalizou o viver na cidade de Viçosa, MG, a partir da percepção de seus moradores, tendo como referência seus problemas socioambientais, e se apoiou em discussões teóricas sobre a sustentabilidade urbana e a nova ética ambiental. O objetivo do trabalho foi identificar as possibilidades e, ou, os limites para se pensar na construção da sustentabilidade urbana e da nova ética ambiental. A pesquisa de natureza qualitativa se orientou pelas seguintes fontes: dados secundários; documentação fotográfica; entrevistas; atas das reuniões da Câmara Municipal de Viçosa, entre os anos de 2001 e 2010; jornal do município entre os anos de 2001 e 2011. As fontes consultadas permitiram compreender que o processo de reprodução do espaço urbano de Viçosa teve como principal mola propulsora a instalação da ESAV em 1922 atual UFV já que este elemento atraiu pessoas para trabalhar e estudar na instituição. Esse processo ocorreu de forma acelerada e sem planejamento. A partir das análises das imagens foi possível conhecer algumas marcas que ficaram na paisagem urbana em consequência de eventos que ali aconteceram. Diferentes mudanças foram provocadas pelos principais agentes da cidade: pelo poder político local, pelos agentes imobiliários, pelas entidades federais, pela população flutuante e pelos residentes fixos. Essas ações tiveram consequências para a cidade, como os problemas socioambientais que se materializam na paisagem e geraram problemas para a população residente. Problemas, como construções ilegais (áreas de proteção permanente); poluição do ribeirão São Bartolomeu; verticalização; trânsito; poluição sonora e visual; lixo nas vias públicas; e calçadas e vias mal pavimentadas, são exemplos. De modo geral, os dados encontrados no jornal Folha da Mata e na Câmara Municipal são bastante parecidos. Nessas fontes, os moradores se referem, sobretudo, à infraestrutura da cidade, muitas vezes apresentando pedidos de melhorias para problemas que estão em sua rua ou em seu bairro, apesar de serem identificados em toda a cidade. Porém, ainda que timidamente, as manifestações de moradores sinalizaram para uma visão mais crítica da realidade. No que se refere às entrevistas, observou-se que a maioria dos entrevistados percebe os problemas de Viçosa, assim como a interferência dos mesmos no viver. Além disso, a maior parte dos entrevistados não se percebe como corresponsáveis e coparticipantes do processo de geração dos problemas, atribuindo tanto as causas como o poder de solucionar esses problemas ao poder público e à UFV. Apesar disso, foram identificadas percepções que sinalizam possibilidades de se pensar em mudanças, como a valorização atribuída à participação popular no processo de mudanças, e na tomada de pequenas atitudes sustentáveis, demonstrada por diferentes entrevistados. Mesmo que seja impossível generalizar, essas manifestações, ainda que pontuais, representam uma semente na possibilidade de se pensar na construção da sustentabilidade urbana. Os limites estão relacionados à postura de moradores que não se veem como coparticipantes nesse processo de geração e, ou, na solução de problemas. Contudo, se o trabalho focaliza a percepção dos moradores em relação ao viver na cidade de Viçosa, tendo como referência as questões socioambientais que nela se apresentam, há que se considerar que esses atores são apenas parte da trama que envolve outros atores: os agentes da especulação imobiliária; o Estado, representado pelo poder público local e também a UFV, que apesar de projetar a cidade no cenário nacional, é também responsável pelos problemas na cidade, sendo, portanto, partes do processo.

博士（社会学） / 甲第686号 / 206p / 一橋大学