ABSTRACT
Consider the rational, self-sufficient, self-interested, extractive, and possessive creature who has been so well suited to industrial capitalism and who has created a mode of governance known as liberal interest-group democracy. Time for him to go. To replace this formation of self, economy, and governance, this chapter proposes that we embrace an ecological conception of persons. By making the case for this alternative account of selves, the chapter suggests that we should understand the fundamental goal of governance in terms of ethical placemaking for ecological selves and citizens to guide selections of new models of governance aimed at generating more liveable, equitable futures. Finally, the chapter identifies the ethical and political capacities that ought to characterize ecological subjects and concludes by reiterating the central place of care and the centrality of places of care in nurturing them.
