ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that in order to make a radical change in how people live, people must change the way in which they think about themselves. In opposition to the individualistic understanding of themselves, people should rethink themselves as beings in relation to their environment, consisting of other people (friends, family, colleagues, and community members), built environments, and natural environments. Such a redetermination in people understanding themselves is not exactly new, as this stance is found in Confucianism, Daoism, Zen Buddhism, and many indigenous ways of thinking. With the help of these traditions, this chapter argues for a redetermination of individuals as ecological selves, in which individualism becomes secondary to community and community includes the natural world. This chapter proposes that a “green” way of acting has to be rooted in a worldview that places individuals in a larger context.
