Religion, Ecology, and the Planetary Other: Opening Spaces for Difference
This article brings together Mimetic Theory and Religion and Ecology to argue that our meaning-making practices (religious, philosophical, and ethical) are embedded in the larger mimetic structures of an evolving planetary community. Though mimetic theory has been applied to many forms of violence,...
| Published in: | Journal of the American Academy of Religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
[2015]
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| In: |
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This article brings together Mimetic Theory and Religion and Ecology to argue that our meaning-making practices (religious, philosophical, and ethical) are embedded in the larger mimetic structures of an evolving planetary community. Though mimetic theory has been applied to many forms of violence, it has rarely been extended to an analysis of ecological violence. Mimetic excess, much like the abject or remainder in theories of identity performance, provides us with opportunities for creative-destructive changes that can secure extant power structures or transform them. To a great extent, our meaning-making practices have made the rest of the natural world a scapegoat through promoting some form of human exceptionalism, thereby making nature as something completely “other” whether that other is to be dominated or revered. In other words, nature is both sacrificed in projects of modern industrial capitalism and made sacred in the form of national parks, preserves, and romantic ideas of restoration or saving. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4585 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American Academy of Religion, Journal of the American Academy of Religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfv043 |