Abstract
This article argues that we need to look at living examples provided by non-state communities in various regions of the world that are, perhaps unwittingly, contributing to the maintenance of the Earth’s optimal thermal balance. These fully sustainable communities have been living outside the mainstream for centuries, even millennia, providing examples in the global struggle against the degradation of social–ecological systems. They have all, to varying degrees, embraced simple forms of living that make them ‘exemplary ethical communities’ (EECs)—human communities with a track record of sustainability related to forms of traditional knowledge and the capacity to survive outside the capitalist market and nation-state system. The article proceeds in three steps: First, it condenses a large body of research on the limits of the existing nation-state system and its accompanying ideology, nationalism, identifying this institutional–ideological complex as the major obstacle to tackling climate change. Second, alternative social formations that could offer viable micro-level and micro-scale alternatives are suggested. These are unlikely to identify with existing nation-states as they often form distinct types of social communities. Taking examples from hunter-gatherer societies and simple-living religious groups, it is shown how the protection and maintenance of these EECs could become the keystone in the struggle for survival of humankind and other forms of life. Finally, further investigation is called for, into how researchers can come forward with more examples of actually existing communities that might provide pathways to sustainability and resistance to the looming global environmental catastrophe.
Highlights
Accepted: 11 May 2021In these liminal times, the Earth needs to be reconceived as a pluri-cultural space in which distinct types of human communities engage in different levels of ethical responsibility to allow the survival of life by transferring Earth-system knowledge to coming generations
The Earth needs to be reconceived as a pluri-cultural space in which distinct types of human communities engage in different levels of ethical responsibility to allow the survival of life by transferring Earth-system knowledge to coming generations
To various extents, embraced forms of simple living that turns them into ‘exemplary ethical communities’ (EECs), which I define as human communities with a proven track record of sustainability related to forms of traditional knowledge and the capacity to survive, sometimes thrive, outside the capitalist market and the nation-state system
Summary
The Earth needs to be reconceived as a pluri-cultural space in which distinct types of human communities engage in different levels of ethical responsibility to allow the survival of life by transferring Earth-system knowledge to coming generations. This article argues that we need to look at the living examples provided by non-state communities in various regions of the world that, perhaps unwittingly, are contributing to the maintenance of the Earth’s optimal thermal balance and planetary temperature equilibrium These communities have been living in specific niches outside the mainstream or the ‘market’ for centuries, even millennia—rather than being conceived as ad hoc responses to the catastrophic combination of climate change and biodiversity loss we are beginning to experience. Their traditional ethical background varies greatly from the Christian Pietism of Anabaptist communities to the animistic beliefs of hunter-gatherers, from the mystical union with the cosmos in some Sufi orders and sections of Hasidic Judaism to the meditative lifestyle of Hindu and Muslim Bauls, to the Buddhist economics of frugality, forest monks, and Dhammic agriculture. The communities I consider here offer us a glimpse of what it may mean for human beings to be at one with nature—or at least in tune with it
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