ABSTRACT
When observing our world from a global perspective, it is easy to see that many of our problems have been caused by the relentless advance of globalised Western civilization. This chapter seeks to develop more embedded anthropological, axiological and social perspectives, to help constitute a new way of looking at the world. We focus on the potential offered by the Earth Charter, an initiative which presents a new perspective on the ecological and social crisis, and a fresh worldview from the Community of Life. The Charter’s values are expressed in a series of statements, which are discussed in some detail, to reflect on their implications and possibilities. We argue that the Earth Charter offers us the possibility of creating a post-neoliberal society based on the Ethics of Care, involving solidarity, shared responsibility and respectful compassion for the foundations of life. In this sense, by extending our identity through an “ecological self”, it potentially allows a reconstruction of human subjectivity in connection with the Community of Life. While there is little time left to implement this transformation, we have to be also aware of the fact that a war against Gaia will never be won.
