ABSTRACT
The first three chapters of Psychology for Sustainability, 5th edition, comprise the first part, What on Earth Are We Doing, the goal of which is to familiarize readers with the ecological crisis and its origins and provide a vision for a sustainable future. This second chapter contextualizes the current crisis with a historical survey of cultural, technological, economic, social, and political developments. It examines how the dominant social paradigm in the industrialized world emerged in recent centuries as anthropocentric Western thought diverged from traditional notions of animism and interconnection during the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution. Four central assumptions of this worldview are discussed: Humans are separate from, and superior to, nature; nature can and should be controlled; individuals have a right to maximum economic gain; and progress equals growth. The critical role of power and privilege in its ascendency are emphasized. A legitimizing myth of European superiority supported the decimation of Indigenous (Native American) communities during the colonial expansion of the United States, and racism backed by pseudoscience provided a rationale for the enslavement of captive Africans. The second part of the chapter describes the development of environmentalism in the US from the late 19th century to the present. Prominent people, events, and ideas are discussed, including transcendentalism, preservation, conservation, ecology, urban environmentalism, the green decade, grassroots activism, Earth Day, environmental racism, professional environmentalism, Earth First!, Wise Use, and the environmental justice movement. The chapter concludes with the partisan political pendulum that has spurred and stalled progress on sustainability in the United States.
