From Biocultural Homogenization to Biocultural Conservation: A Conceptual Framework to Reorient Society Toward Sustainability of Life

Abstract

Biocultural homogenization entails interwoven losses of native biological and cultural diversity at local, regional, and global scales. It is a driver and a product of complex and pervasive losses of biological and cultural diversity; however, it is not yet widely recognized to its full extent. In this book we show how the processes of biological and cultural homogenization are intricately interrelated. A guiding theme is the conceptual framework of the biocultural ethic and its “3Hs” model, which facilitates understanding how some life habits that are being globalized can lead to homogeneous habitats with detrimental consequences for many human and other-than-human co-inhabitants. The 3Hs conceptual framework enables a visualization of the interrelations between the homogenization of habits and habitats and the consequences it has for the well-being or the displacement of human and other-than-human co-inhabitants. In this way, it can inform and provide insights for decision-making in environmental policies, development, and educational programs, in order to foster processes of biocultural conservation and avoid pressing social and environmental injustices conveyed by current processes of biocultural homogenization.