Contextual Material Questions & Answers

  1. Review the evaluative standards your group developed for the presentation assignment. Refine these in response to class feedback, discussion and to the quotes above (the Speth and Dewey and Pope Francis quotes provided in the Individual Paper option above). In particular, what does Speth mean when he says the new environmental politics must “get political”? What are the implications for how we think about personal action, collective action, our sense of the interdependence of our actions, the interdependence of environmental, economic and social justice issues?

Dewey writes that living in community, that is, living in mindful awareness of our interrelationship with each other, the interrelationship of our actions, our awareness of the connection between our individual aspirations and the health of the community—that this defines what democracy is really about. How do we turn these ideas into guidelines for environmental/social justice action? Dewey also writes that true community with others and our environment is not possible unless we continue to develop a thoughtful understanding of the full consequences of our individual, economic, and social actions—- in fact, he seems to argue this is part of the true work of communication: to aid in our awareness and understanding of the full consequences of our actions, great and small, industrial and personal. He also writes that the true work of communication is to be artful, to draw on the function of art to “break through the crust of conventionalized and routine consciousness” to help us experience how “the deeper levels of life are touched so that they spring up as desire and thought.” He even goes so far to say that “Artists have always been the real purveyors of news, for it is not the outward happening in itself which is new, but the kindling by it of emotion, perception and appreciation.” How do we turn these ideas of Dewey’s into guidelines for environmental action?

2.  Drawing on your revised guidelines create an intervention for the campaign/organization/issue/public you are working on.This intervention can build on earlier group work, but should develop this work into, preferably, an action. 

Urban farm places the utmost importance on education and sustainability to grow social awareness in the domain of ethical consumption. The organization already does an adequate job of creating awareness and educating those who participate in their programs through group bonding and providing members with skills to be used outside the Urban Farm setting. While their goals are already prioritized according to their organizational values, Urban Farm continues to come up short in interesting large numbers of people within the Lane County community. The potential that Urban Farm carries is vast yet untapped: it could exponentially ignite sustainable living in and around the Lane County community while bringing people together of both experienced agriculturists and those inexperienced. If more people were to become aware of the teachings that Urban Farm has to offer, they would be more inclined to participate, given the applicability of potential skills learned, and improvements upon community sustainability which is now trending can be achieved.

In order for awareness to be raised, Urban Farm’s efforts must be promoted more effectively across social media platforms. Currently, the organization does not maintain an active presence on social media, which has recently been the major social outlet for non-profits, social action, and sustainability based organizations. The Urban Farm could begin mending their social media presence by taking advantage of the connection they share with the University of Oregon, and targeting a wider student-based audience. Given the popularity of environmental intrigue on campus through various clubs and organizations, connecting with a preexisting movement to direct interest into Urban Farm would be a mutual benefit to both parties involved. Rather than using a traditional word of mouth initiative that they intentionally or unintentionally are currently relying on, taking a more aggressive approach would do wonders for the organization, increasing attendance and providing locals with a more sustainable lifestyle away from advanced consumption.

Currently, the Urban Farm works with the University of Oregon to provide a Freshman Interest Group (FIG) to expand their reach and introduce new members of the university to the organization, however it remains relatively unpopular among incoming students. A couple of actions to be adopted by Urban Farm could be integrating its program with other University of Oregon courses and engaging the community among all ages. Urban Farm could work with the university in introducing a class that expands upon the sustainability and community-based teachings that their instructional tutorials provide. The course could then combine with other sustainability, environment, or consumption based classes at the University of Oregon to strengthen the Freshmen Interest Group. Urban Farm could also actively try to engage public schools from elementary to high school in efforts to create comfortability with sustainable consumption from a young age and begin environmentally conscious actions early on. Engaging these young students, and relying on an advanced social media presence will help grow Lane County into a more environmentally and sustainability mindful community. This will connect the community with each other, and with the environment, expanding upon integral ecology.

  1. Write a 500 word group reflection on how you were able to draw on Speth and Dewey, what Speth and Dewey might learn from your campaign/organization/issue and what Speth, Dewey and your campaign/organization might learn from your group’s experience, background and insights in building a new environmental politics.

Speth considers formal education, as well as, experiential education as fundamental. He considers each form complementary and dependent on each other to form a well rounded and conclusive social consciousness relative to the environment. The Urban Farm prioritizes the connection of communities with the resources necessary to expand community understanding and engagement with experiences that the average individual does not encounter or consider on a daily basis. Through education, the Urban Farm connects its consumers with knowledge about sustainable farming and a greater understanding of where food comes from and how. The Urban Farm takes Speth’s concerns into literal action with an advanced emphasis on the prioritization of breaking away from capitalistic tendencies. The organization teaches students to be self-sufficient with their food consumption, a major concern of Speth. Self-sufficient farming and understanding the benefits, which Urban Farm educates on, reduces the amount of pressure on a capitalistic environment, working towards eliminating the collision between the economy and the environment. “Food production, resource consumption, and waste generation also increase because they are linked to population and output growth” (Speth, 52). With a growing population, heavy pressure is put on food producers to maintain the growing demand, which rapidly depletes environmental resources. Speth claims that the world is focused on economic growth while disregarding environmental costs for the future generations, programs like the Urban Farm are crucial to rewrite the script of society. Self-sufficient farming and understanding the benefits of doing so, which Urban Farm educates on, reduces the amount of pressure in a capitalistic environment, working towards eliminating the collision between the economy and the environment.

From our group’s experience with volunteering in the Urban Farm as well as our understanding of Speth’s “new environmental politics” we realized that while the Urban Farm has the capacity to do a lot for the community, their actual impact is relatively small. In order to be a more sustainable, and impactful program, they need to reach out to a larger demographic which goes beyond UO students and into the greater population, most often seen, in communities with little access to locally sourced food. Conversely, while Speth does a thorough job of outlining the importance of total inclusivity, our group’s experience highlighted the fact that in order for people to participate, they have to want to be involved. This means not only making opportunities like urban farming available but also teaching people from a young age the importance of environmentalism. In this way, Speth might take away that not only education but education beginning at a young age, is extremely important in making people invested in sustainability. Dewey, writes about the need to unite beyond personal interest, and while he highlights the fact that community is learned, meaning education is a driving force in cultivating a “great community” he views politics as being a less integral piece of change. From what we’ve learned from Speth, lasting change is a process which must involve politics. Perhaps Dewey can take away that community, while primarily about shifting interpersonal dynamics, realistically must work with the political system, transforming it from within to fit the interests of the movement. In this way, Dewey cannot fully reject the political process but instead should advocate for creating a new political system which fosters inclusivity and open communication.