Sustainability History Project

Three students attended some sessions of the May 20-22, 2010, Understanding Sustainability conference held at Portland State University (PSU). For some extra credit, these students then reported on what they learned.

Organizers billed this his conference as

The nation’s leading forum for a humanities perspective on sustainability . . . This free, three-day event brings over 60 scholars from diverse disciplines and backgrounds to Portland to draw out the controversies over the meaning and practice of sustainability, through an inspiring array of panel discussions and conversations.

PSU’s Portland Center for Public Humanities at organized the event, which included

a trio of plenary talks with three innovative thinkers: Natalie Jeremijenko, Stephen Gardiner, and Cary Wolfe. Each of these sessions showcases a unique perspective on sustainability, combining a keynote presentation and follow-up discussion with selected respondents.” (source)

(For more information on the conference, see also Carrie Sturrock, “Portland State University offers second annual forum: ‘Understanding Sustainability: Perspectives from the Humanities’,” Oregonian May 10, 2010.)

Here’s are excerpts of the student responses:

Student #1: Natalie Jeremijenko presentation

I attended a lecture by Dr. Natalie Jeremijenko . . . [titled] “After Copenhagen: Emerging Strategies of Political Participation . . .

The lecture introduced to the audience numerous sustainability-related projects that are happening in New York City prescribed by the xClinic, the Environmental Health Clinic+Lab. This unique clinic addresses community’s particular environment health concerns, and prescribes actions that individuals and community groups can take to improve environmental health.

One of the interesting projects that fascinated me was “No Parks” which turns no-parking spaces . . . into a small patch of green park by planting low-growth mosses to reduce storm water runoff. Her research . . . revealed that it actually absorbs more runoff water than a green roof top. I found this to be very applicable to PSU, because we are an urban campus in a rainy region and usually dealing with storm water runoff such as pedestrian’s hassle walking through water puddles.

Another great project was called OOZ (the opposite of ZOO) for birds of New York City. This project is a bird housing project installed on the building rooftops that helps improve the quality of life of NYC birds by providing them an environment to dwell in urban spaces.

The content of the lecture was very interesting and the added humor also provided further entertainment. While explaining a project done by middle school kids, she threw in the term “child labor” which made every one laugh. Also, the constant comparison of a medical clinic with environmental health clinic was interesting; the logo of medical health [a red plus +] was tweaked to make an environment health sign [a red cross X].

The lectured brought to my attention the application of ecological aspect of sustainability, and just through these small steps we can conserve our environment.

Student #2: Cary Wolfe presentation

The host speaker opened up the discussion by talking about the purpose of this conference. The conference is about sustainable development, understanding sustainability from different perspectives, and realizing that sustainability is a process, not an end. Within this process, the goal is to gauge where we are, where we want to be, and through what mechanisms of change it will take to realize these goals. In order to accomplish this we need to know what sustainable means to everyone, and what should we be focused on as important to sustainability.

The guest speaker that was originally designated to speak was unable to attend that day, so Carey Wolfe moved his lecture up a few days and took her place. Wolfe’s lecture was on the topic of Biopolitics and Species Difference. This lecture was very specialized and full of technical jargon. I am a philosophy major, and this philosophical lecture was hard for me to follow at times. Unless you have read the major works in this area, the non stop references that were quoted were of little use. However, the lecture was very informational and entertaining.

Carey Wolfe lectured on humans relation to other animals. The two major examples given were that of the rites given to the great apes, and the holocaust being carried out on animals throughout the world. Wolfe applauds the rites given to the great apes, which makes it a crime to kill them except in certain circumstances. However, he insists this points out that we now recognize the rites of animals, but only of those animals most closely related to us. The distinction between humans and non humans should be abolished. Anything that uses an input to create an output should be protected in his view. This token instance of the great apes is both minimal and monumental at the same time.

While some things are being done to protect animals such as the great apes, there is a holocaust going on with other animals. Ignoring the intrinsic value of life, and sending animals to slaughter in staggering numbers, under horrific conditions. Wolfe claims it is even more severe than the Nazis. While the Nazis were exterminating a race, we are going beyond that, to the point of manufacturing death through insemination and factory farming. Not only using some of the same techniques employed by the Nazis, but breeding them in order to execute them. Also, a huge percent of animals do not even live to achieve the end they were intended for due to harsh conditions in these farms. Which raises the point of our sense of entitlement and the never ending abuse of power that continues to grow.

This lecture alters my sense of sustainability through opening my eyes to some key issues of animal rites. Through decentralizing the human, an entire new way of looking at sustainability emerges. Which brings us back to the opening, what should be the focus of our efforts towards sustainability?

Student #3: Cary Wolfe presentation

. . . Cary Wolfe of Rice University, presented his speech and paper titled “Biopolitics and Species Difference,” and after his speech two respondents, Jim Proctor of Lewis and Clark College, and Alex Sager of Portland State University, provided commentary and insight on Cary Wolfe’s paper, and Alastair Hunt of Portland State University was the moderator. After the main speaker and respondents spoke, they fielded questions from the audience, creating an interactive atmosphere.

. . . The host speaker then gave a brief introduction to the topic of sustainability. He mentioned briefly how the term ‘sustainability’ has changed over the course of about twenty years since the Brundtland Commission’s definition of sustainability in Our Common Future. Nowadays, the term encompasses topics such as freedom, rights, tolerance, justice, and fairness, . . . and the topic of maintainability can be considered an antonym in some instances to the word ‘sustainability.’ He then went on to mention the current unsustainable practice of oil drilling off the Gulf Coast in the Gulf of Mexico, specifically the catastrophic disaster that is happening currently. He said that there could be lessons learned from these types of events, and really brings into light the fact that historically, the politics of energy use has been created quite unsustainable practices. He also mentions the fact that capital accumulation can undoubtedly damage the planet from an ecological standpoint, specifically the current oil spill happening in the Gulf of Mexico.

. . . Cary Wolfe . . . then started reading us his paper titled “Bio-politics and Species Difference,” which detailed his takes on animal rights (with a focus on ethics and culture) vs. bio-politics/bio-policy. He then mentioned the animal rights movement in North America was the first movement in the world of that kind, and the most recent law passed in regards to animal rights gives great apes the same rights as humans. He then posed the question of “whose lives count as lives and which lives are grievable lives?” Wolfe then went on to mention the notion that product testing can be considered “animal holocaust,” and that this can also be considered “manufactured death.” An interesting and horrible fact that Wolfe mentioned is that 900,000,000, or ten percent, of animals die per year in “factory farms” before they reach the slaughterhouse from stress, injury, or disease. This can hardly be considered sustainable and, currently, no more than one-quarter of the animals in “factory farms” have to become product sold in stores. This can hardly be considered sustainable in my opinion.

I hadn’t previously thought much about the unsustainable practices used by “factory farms” and I certainly found it shocking and morbid the number of animals that die before reaching the slaughterhouse, and also the very lax regulations in place on how humanely the farmers need to treat their livestock.

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