ABSTRACT
Deep ecology was highly influential in environmental thought, politics, and spirituality during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The appeal of deep ecology pivoted upon the ideas of philosopher Naess who described deep ecology as a movement characterized by a relational ontology, biospherical egalitarianism, principles of diversity and symbiosis, an anti-class posture, opposition to pollution and resource depletion, a focus on complexity not complication, and support for local autonomy and decentralization. Deep ecology also came under sustained external critique. This included ecofeminists who observed that deep ecology failed to recognize the historical linkages between anthropocentrism and androcentrism, and that deep ecology embodied a familiar masculine stance for control and dominance. Since the 1990s there has been a dissipation of interest in deep ecology, in part due to a loss of interest in environmental philosophy and increasing pragmatic concerns.
