Social Ecology

What is Social Ecology? What are your reactions to the readings? What forms of hierarchy are in our world today? Are these hierarchies natural? Are there any better alternatives? 

Social Ecology is somewhat related to Deep Ecology except for how intense it is. While Bookchin thinks that deep ecology is too radical and hard to implement, many of the concepts are similar. Social ecology breaks down the image that we have put on ecology and nature. That it frees nature from any anthropogenic sources and market-placed images on what nature truly is. It also is structured on a non-hierarchal democracy and deconstruction or submission to the market.

Personally, I feel that it is hard to describe what social ecology really is. The Bookchin reading was difficult to follow but from what I grasped, social ecology takes an ecocentric approach. This means that instead of focusing on the individual, the ecosystem as a whole is studied. 

I think that social ecology may be easier to integrate into our society than deep ecology while still maintaining similar respect for nature. Social ecology is about breaking down hierarchy and taking a more egalitarian approach. This is something that our society would have difficulty with because, whether we like it or not, class systems are all around us. Just within our university there is hierarchy within our governing structure, between students and a professor, within classmates and peers. It is a process that has become natural because as humans we are taught to strive to be the best and on top of the rest. These standing and class systems have become natural to our society and our economy. But as a whole nation, it is interesting to see the impacts that we have on less developed countries. It is was interesting to make these connections and see the impacts that we have on the environment and nature when approached from this direction. I do know that as a successful nation we try to help the less developed nations and their impacts on the environment.