the late environmentalist, author, & philosopher
“Schooling the World: The White Man’s Last Burden”. Education as the ultimate act of Western colonialism, destroying cultural diversity and spreading human monoculture—in its own image—around the globe. Interviews with Wade Davis, Vandana Shiva, Helena Norberg-Hodge, et alia. Schooling the World website. Trailer below.
In this video presentation Wade Davis explains how cultural diversity is undergoing an extinction rate far greater than that of biological diversity.
This important essay exposes modern ‘development’ as colonialism repackaged and ferociously applied via transnational corporations, compliant local elites and global institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF—all underwritten by the threat of military force. It was published in The Ecologist Vol. 27 No. 2, March–April 1997. An extended version was published in 2001 [...]
In this important essay Edward Goldsmith explores why development, whether described as ‘sustainable’, ‘ecological’, ‘appropriate’ or otherwise, will only deepen the poverty and misery of poor tropical nations. Published in Ecoscript No. 35, June 1993 by the Foundation for Eco-development (stichting Mondiaal Alternatief). This essay was previously published under the title “Development and colonialism”. I [...]
A review of The Highland Clearances by John Prebble. Penguin, London 1969, reprinted 1989. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 19 No. 3, May/June 1989. The eviction of the crofters (peasant farmers) from the Highlands of Scotland in the 18th century to make way for the raising of sheep, provides a clear example of the effects [...]
International aid appears to be a rare example of selfless generosity in international affairs. But the truth is that it is designed entirely for the benefit of donors, representing an important tool for the perpetuation of economic, political and military colonialism. Editorial article published in The Ecologist Vol. 18 No. 2, March 1988. Those with [...]
Book Review: The Geography of Famine, by William A. Dando. Arnold, London, 1980. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 10 No. 10, December 1980. This is an extremely interesting book. Its overt goal is to show that, in general, famines, rather than be ‘acts of God’, as many people assume, are, in fact, man-made: “Natural factors [...]
