ABSTRACT
This chapter examines identities, which are stories in people’s minds about what it means to be a particular kind of person. Of particular concern are consumerist identities, where status and moral worth is attached to the ownership of material objects rather than to the performance of actions which benefit society. The chapter also investigates how patterns of language build ecological identities, encouraging people to view themselves and humans in general as part of the larger community of life rather than separate from it. Recognising the embedding of humans within the larger ecological systems that support life is an essential first step towards protecting these systems.
