Reinventing Eden : The Fate of Nature in Western Culture

Visionary quests to return to the Garden of Eden have shaped Western Culture. This book traces the idea of rebuilding the primeval garden from its origins to its latest incarnations and offers a bold new way to think about the earth. BOOK COVER......Page 1 HALF-TITLE......Page 2 TITLE......Page 3 COPYRIGHT......Page 4 DEDICATION......Page 6 CONTENTS......Page 7 ILLUSTRATIONS......Page 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 11 ONE A Garden Planet......Page 13 TW0 The Fall from Eden Eden......Page 22 THE CHRISTIAN NARRATIVE......Page 23 THE MODERN NARRATIVE......Page 30 THE ROLE OF GENDER......Page 33 STEWARDSHIP VERSUS DOMINION......Page 34 ENVIRONMENTALIST AND FEMINIST NARRATIVES......Page 36 FEMINIST NARRATIVES......Page 40 COMPARING THE NARRATIVES......Page 46 THREE Recovering the Garden......Page 49 GREEK AND ROMAN NARRATIVES......Page 50 NARRATIVES OF DECLINE......Page 51 NARRATIVES OF PROGRESS......Page 53 ROMAN AND CHRISTIAN STORIES CONVERGE......Page 55 DANTE’S FALL AND SALVATION NARRATIVE......Page 56 EVE AS THE FALL, MARY AS THE RECOVERY......Page 61 THE VIRGIN MARY AS GARDEN......Page 64 MILLENARIAN OPTIMISM......Page 66 EDEN MAPPED AND EXPLORED......Page 67 RECREATING THE EARTHLY EDEN......Page 69 CONCLUSION......Page 73 FOUR From Wilderness to Civilization......Page 74 TRANSFORMING THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT......Page 75 FROM WILDERNESS TO CIVILIZATION......Page 76 THE STATE OF NATURE......Page 78 THE DECAY OF NATURE......Page 79 THE SACRED THEORY OF THE EARTH......Page 80 FRANCIS BACON’S RECOVERY NARRATIVE......Page 81 THE MECHANICAL WORLDVIEW......Page 84 PARADISE AND PROPERTY......Page 86 JOHN LOCKE’S CIVIL SOCIETY......Page 87 PRIVATE PROPERTY AND THE RECOVERY OF EDEN......Page 89 ADAM SMITH’S CAPITALIST NARRATIVE......Page 91 THE ROOTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION......Page 92 THE EMERGENCE OF WILDERNESS APPRECIATION......Page 94 CONCLUSION......Page 96 NEW WORLD EDENS......Page 99 HEROIC AGENTS......Page 103 CARVING OUT A COASTAL EDEN......Page 105 POSSESSING THE INLAND EDEN......Page 106 THE AMERICAN ADAM......Page 108 THE REINVENTED EDEN......Page 109 THE RECOVERY NARRATIVE IN ARTS AND LETTERS......Page 111 THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT......Page 115 THE RAPE OF NATURE......Page 117 IRRIGATED EDENS......Page 118 CONCLUSION......Page 120 SIX Eve As Nature......Page 122 “VIRGIN” NATURE TRANSFORMED......Page 124 VIRGIN LAND INTO FRUITFUL FIELD......Page 128 FROM NATURE TO CIVILIZATION......Page 131 ROMANTIC NATURE......Page 137 NATURE CONSERVED, MANAGED, AND PRESERVED......Page 141 NATURE AND MEN......Page 146 CONCLUSION......Page 147 SEVEN Colonizing Eden......Page 149 INDIANS AND EDEN......Page 150 INDIANS INTO FARMERS......Page 152 EDUCATING INDIANS......Page 153 INDIANS AND WILDERNESS......Page 155 BLACKS AND EDEN......Page 158 RESISTING SLAVERY......Page 160 ENVIRONMENTALISM AND AFRICAN AMERICANS......Page 162 COLONIZED EDENS......Page 166 CONCLUSION......Page 167 EIGHT Eden Commodified......Page 169 CONSUMER’S NATURE......Page 170 BIOTECHNOLOGY......Page 172 GENOMES......Page 175 EVOLUTION......Page 179 MALE GARDENERS AND FEMALE GARDENS......Page 182 CONCLUSION......Page 186 NINE Earth in Recovery......Page 188 ENVIRONMENTAL DECLINE......Page 190 ENVIRONMENTAL NARRATIVES......Page 192 FEMINIST NARRATIVES......Page 196 POSTMODERN CRITIQUES......Page 199 REALITY......Page 201 CONCLUSION......Page 203 TEN Order Out of Chaos......Page 205 CHALLENGES TO CLASSICAL SCIENCE......Page 206 NEW SCIENCES......Page 208 CHAOS THEORY......Page 211 COMPLEXITY THEORY......Page 213 ECOLOGY......Page 215 GAIA......Page 217 CONCLUSION......Page 219 ENVIRONMENTAL PARTNERSHIPS......Page 222 PARTNERSHIP ETHICS......Page 224 HEARING NATURE’S VOICE......Page 225 NATURE AS A PARTNER AT THE TABLE......Page 227 HISTORICAL ROOTS OF A PARTNERSHIP ETHIC......Page 229 IMPLEMENTING PARTNERSHIPS......Page 231 DESIGN WITH NATURE......Page 234 PROBLEMS WITH PARTNERSHIP......Page 237 PARTNERSHIP AND NARRATIVE......Page 238 A NEW STORY......Page 240 EPILOGUE......Page 242 NOTES......Page 244 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 287 INDEX......Page 308 Education, Politics & IR, Sociology & Social Policy BOOK COVER 1 HALF-TITLE 2 TITLE 3 COPYRIGHT 4 DEDICATION 6 CONTENTS 7 ILLUSTRATIONS 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 11 ONE A Garden Planet 13 TW0 The Fall from Eden Eden 22 THE CHRISTIAN NARRATIVE 23 THE MODERN NARRATIVE 30 THE ROLE OF GENDER 33 STEWARDSHIP VERSUS DOMINION 34 ENVIRONMENTALIST AND FEMINIST NARRATIVES 36 FEMINIST NARRATIVES 40 COMPARING THE NARRATIVES 46 THREE Recovering the Garden 49 THE MEDITERRANEAN ENVIRONMENT 50 GREEK AND ROMAN NARRATIVES 50 NARRATIVES OF DECLINE 51 NARRATIVES OF PROGRESS 53 ROMAN AND CHRISTIAN STORIES CONVERGE 55 DANTE’S FALL AND SALVATION NARRATIVE 56 EVE AS THE FALL, MARY AS THE RECOVERY 61 THE VIRGIN MARY AS GARDEN 64 MILLENARIAN OPTIMISM 66 EDEN MAPPED AND EXPLORED 67 RECREATING THE EARTHLY EDEN 69 CONCLUSION 73 FOUR From Wilderness to Civilization 74 TRANSFORMING THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT 75 FROM WILDERNESS TO CIVILIZATION 76 THE STATE OF NATURE 78 THE DECAY OF NATURE 79 THE SACRED THEORY OF THE EARTH 80 FRANCIS BACON’S RECOVERY NARRATIVE 81 THE MECHANICAL WORLDVIEW 84 PARADISE AND PROPERTY 86 JOHN LOCKE’S CIVIL SOCIETY 87 PRIVATE PROPERTY AND THE RECOVERY OF EDEN 89 ADAM SMITH’S CAPITALIST NARRATIVE 91 THE ROOTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION 92 THE EMERGENCE OF WILDERNESS APPRECIATION 94 CONCLUSION 96 FIVE Adam As Hero 99 NEW WORLD EDENS 99 HEROIC AGENTS 103 CARVING OUT A COASTAL EDEN 105 POSSESSING THE INLAND EDEN 106 THE AMERICAN ADAM 108 THE REINVENTED EDEN 109 THE RECOVERY NARRATIVE IN ARTS AND LETTERS 111 THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT 115 THE RAPE OF NATURE 117 IRRIGATED EDENS 118 CONCLUSION 120 SIX Eve As Nature 122 “VIRGIN” NATURE TRANSFORMED 124 VIRGIN LAND INTO FRUITFUL FIELD 128 FROM NATURE TO CIVILIZATION 131 ROMANTIC NATURE 137 NATURE CONSERVED, MANAGED, AND PRESERVED 141 NATURE AND MEN 146 CONCLUSION 147 SEVEN Colonizing Eden 149 INDIANS AND EDEN 150 INDIANS INTO FARMERS 152 EDUCATING INDIANS 153 INDIANS AND WILDERNESS 155 BLACKS AND EDEN 158 RESISTING SLAVERY 160 ENVIRONMENTALISM AND AFRICAN AMERICANS 162 COLONIZED EDENS 166 CONCLUSION 167 EIGHT Eden Commodified 169 CONSUMER’S NATURE 170 BIOTECHNOLOGY 172 GENOMES 175 EVOLUTION 179 MALE GARDENERS AND FEMALE GARDENS 182 CONCLUSION 186 NINE Earth in Recovery 188 ENVIRONMENTAL DECLINE 190 ENVIRONMENTAL NARRATIVES 192 FEMINIST NARRATIVES 196 POSTMODERN CRITIQUES 199 REALITY 201 CONCLUSION 203 TEN Order Out of Chaos 205 CHALLENGES TO CLASSICAL SCIENCE 206 NEW SCIENCES 208 CHAOS THEORY 211 COMPLEXITY THEORY 213 ECOLOGY 215 GAIA 217 CONCLUSION 219 ELEVEN Partnership 222 ENVIRONMENTAL PARTNERSHIPS 222 PARTNERSHIP ETHICS 224 HEARING NATURE’S VOICE 225 NATURE AS A PARTNER AT THE TABLE 227 HISTORICAL ROOTS OF A PARTNERSHIP ETHIC 229 IMPLEMENTING PARTNERSHIPS 231 DESIGN WITH NATURE 234 PROBLEMS WITH PARTNERSHIP 237 PARTNERSHIP AND NARRATIVE 238 A NEW STORY 240 EPILOGUE 242 NOTES 244 BIBLIOGRAPHY 287 INDEX 308 In her challenging book, environmental historian Merchant (The Death of Nature) attempts to put the current ecological crisis into perspective by examining historical thoughts regarding the loss of Eden and attempts to recover it. One idea is rooted in the scientific revolution of the 17th century: this optimistic scenario asserts that Eden can be regained by re-creating the garden through suburbs, malls and bioengineered food. A more recent idea, embraced by environmentalists, simply states that the earth is in a long decline from Eden in its pristine state. Some colonists thought the New World was already an Eden. Others saw it as a land that needed to be converted into an Eden so its natural resources could be harvested as profitable commodities. In the latter scenario, the fallen Adam redeems himself by becoming the heroic American Adam who transforms nature a female object, or Eve into a fruitful garden. Merchant points out the flaws in many of these Garden of Eden narratives: the first scenario, for example, leads to a totally artificial world and ignores the fact that we can't dominate nature because it is chaotic, complex and unpredictable. Merchant proposes a new narrative in which men, women and the earth work together, giving the needs of nature equal weight with the needs of humans. Unfortunately, her proposals for cooperation between corporations, communities, government agencies and environmental groups are not original. Coming after her penetrating treatment of the historical narratives, this part of the book is disappointing. Yet she covers a wealth of information and sheds light on the thinking of generations of scientists, philosophers and environmentalists Reinventing Eden Traces The Garden Of Eden Myth From The Mesopotamian Regions Where Agriculture - And The Creation Myth - First Began, Through The Greek And Roman Empires, The Enlightenment, And The Modern Capitalist World. With Eloquence And Insight, Merchant Shows How The Drive To Conquer Nature, And To Explore And Settle The Globe, Springs From This Utopian Pastoral Impulse. Time And Again, Human Manipulation Of The Environment Is Our Downfall: Eden Is Achieved By Fencing Off Pristine Beauty In National Parks And Wildlife Preserves, While Leaving The Majority Of The Earth In Ruins.--jacket. A Garden Planet -- The Fall From Eden -- Recovering The Garden -- From Wilderness To Civilization -- Adam As Hero -- Eve As Nature -- Colonizing Eden -- Eden Commodified -- Earth In Recovery -- Order Out Of Chaos -- Partnership. Carolyn Merchant. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 277-292) And Index. "Reinventing Eden traces the Garden of Eden myth from the Mesopotamian regions where agriculture - and the creation myth - first began, through the Greek and Roman empires, the Enlightenment, and the modern capitalist world. With eloquence and insight, Merchant shows how the drive to conquer nature, and to explore and settle the globe, springs from this utopian pastoral impulse. Time and again, human manipulation of the environment is our downfall: Eden is achieved by fencing off pristine beauty in national parks and wildlife preserves, while leaving the majority of the Earth in ruins."--BOOK JACKET.