ABSTRACT
In her important discussion of how ideas about wilderness and nature change over time, Mary Midgely reminds us that the ways we think and talk about ourselves and our environment can commit us to certain pathways of action, not all of which are helpful or desirable. She argues we have framed much of our political thinking as myths about individualism. Today, however, in communities from Tunisia and Wall Street, to the earthquake-shattered pavements of Christchurch, young citizens are beginning to question political life as an expression of individualism, and to rediscover the citizenship power of social agency.
