Discourse Ethic: What tends to be right in the 21st century
It is no secret, that any ventured interest into the American political system, nowadays, is bound to encounter a seemingly stagnant Discourse surrounding ecology and sustainability. In fact, with the recent failed vote to advance the Green New Deal, some citizens, may feel that sustainable progress is nigh impossible in our political Discourse. But Discourse is more than just speeches — words placed sequentially to inspire and persuade.The American
researcher Paul Gee defines Discourse, in his paper Discourse, small-d and Big D, saying: “The notion of big ‘D’ Discourse […] is meant to capture the ways in which people enact and recognize socially and historically significant identities or “kinds of people” through well — integrated combinations of language, beliefs, and values” (Gee 1). This is to say that Discourse is more than the conversations our repetitiveness partake in, but our actions as a society. To truly understand what an American Discourse could look like, we must only look at the actions and practices of other nations.
In America a big deal is made when banning things like plastic straws and large sodas. But other countries find these policies less decisive. One of these countries, that you might not immediately think of as ecologically progressive, is the Philippines. A country that has been implementing policies to eliminate the consumption of single use consumer products. GAIA, an organization that focuses on zero impact efforts describes these initiatives saying, “In the Philippines, cities have also acknowledged the negative effects of too much reliance on plastic bags and are now more accepting of efforts to regulate their usage. Currently there are at least twenty cities and provinces in the Philippines that have some form of policy to regulate the usage of plastic bags” (GAIA). Through these words the outcome of a national Discourse can be discerned. This level of change, however, is not as foreign as one might think in America. The city of Eugene, for example has recently unanimously voted for the elimination of single use consumer products. These initiatives and policies depict how different countries can find solidarity and unity through shared policies. That is to say the diversity of nations can act as inspiration for policies, approaches, and influences of our nations Discourse.
Many countries especially those going through their own industrial revolution, encounter similar ecological problems as the US — specifically regarding hydro power and forestry. For example in the 9th century a forest buffering the northern provinces, including what is now Beijing from monstrous sandstorms was cut down. Without this great ecological wall the eastern provinces suffer an onslaught of sandstorms, born from the Gobi desert, that shut down the airport. The rebuilding of this once great forest, officially called the Three-North Shelter Forest Program, has been affectionately called, for example in a summery BBC article, “The Great Green wall is a project to plant a 4,480km shelter bed of trees across the north west rim of China skirting the Gobi desert. […] The project will greatly reduce the sandstorm threat to Beijing upon completion” (BBC). This revision to past mistakes marks a progressive mind set for not just the Chinese government but the global ecological movement as a whole. Nations that implement policies such as China show the possibility of both an effective and affective Discourse.
China, however, is not with out its blemishes. In the Lancang Basin rests the world’s largest dam , the Xiawan dam scaling three hundred meters in height. It is in this Basin, however, that the work of domestic scientists and non government organizations work to support grass-roots initiatives. Bryan Tilt an associate professor of Anthropology and author describes these initiatives in his book Dams and Development in China saying, “Organizations such as the China Rivers project and Last Descents have focused on publicizing the recreational and touristic value of China’s great rivers. The latter organization promotes hands-on environmental education”(Tilt 75). This duality between progressive initiatives and residual apathy is not specific to China, and the implementation of progressive initiatives can be found all over the globe.
To put it bluntly, there is no one hidden secret to develop a productive ecological discourse. There is, however, policies, approaches, and influences that we can take into consideration when determining our nation’s and our society’s language, beliefs, and values. With the next United Nation’s Climate Action Summit just over one hundred days away the individual successes of nations give light to the possibility of an ecological discourse that transcends national boarders. After all doesn’t a thing tend to be right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community?
Gee, James P. “Discourse, Small-d, Big D.” Arizona State University.
“Plastic Bag Bans in the Philippines.” Global Alliance for Incinerator
Alternatives, www.noburn.org/bagbanph/.
“MEDIA REPORTS | China’s Great Green Wall.” BBC News, BBC, 3 Mar. 2001, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/1199218.stm.
Wasserstrom, Jeffrey N., and Maura Elizabeth Cunningham. China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press, 2018.
