Habitats of authenticity: the ecological crisis, world-ecological praxeology and the capital structure of ‘uncapitalized’ spaces

Abstract

ABSTRACT The ecological crisis is a social crisis that undermines not just the relation between humans and the environment but the whole of human relations to themselves, to other humans, and to nonhumans. Addressing the paradox of unabated crisis escalation despite increasing widespread awareness and reflexivity, we argue that the crisis is in its core a crisis of capital(s) as metabolic relation(s). Its unfolding spurs the desire of particular social milieus to create ‘habitats of authenticity,’ that is, spaces untouched by capital. However, such counter-practices are embedded in cultural class struggles (e.g. distinctive lifestyles), which tends to reproduce the dominative nature relations they claim to overcome. Centering on the concept of capital as practice, we develop a theoretical framework based on an integration of Moore’s world-ecology, Bourdieu’s praxeology, and Critical Theory to conceptually address this paradox. We apply this ‘world-ecological praxeology’ in two case studies – –one from the Global South (Nam Ha National Protected Area in Laos) and one from the Global North (Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin, Germany). The article shows that despite unintended and paradoxical effects, such practices still carry a critical and progressive potential.