The Depth of the World

"The mind becomes relatively disembodied when the body is severed from the depth of the world, i.e., when the world is split into commodious surfaces and inaccessible machineries."

--Albert Borgmann, "Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life" p.203

Holistic Ecology

The unit of survival is organism plus environment (Bateson 1972: 483 quoted in Zoe Sophia 2000).

On Changing the System and the Disenchantment of Action

"We must try to adapt to the system we live in, we must attempt to change it, we must look for the small opportunity of reform and the still smaller one of revolution" (Editor of Der Spiegel in interview with Martin Heidegger, "Only a God Can Save Us" p.110).

"The secularization and 'disenchantment' of action-orienting worldviews, of cultural tradition as a whole, is the obverse of the growing 'rationality' of social action" (Jurgen Habermas "Technology and Science as 'Ideology'," p.81).

"Short distance is not in itself nearness. Nor is great distance remoteness" (Martin Heidegger, "The Thing" p.163).

Arriving at the Unconcealed

Wherever [humanity] opens [its] eyes and ears, unlocks [its] heart, gives [itself] over to meditating and striving, shaping and working, entreating and thanking, [humanity] finds [itself] everywhere already brought into the unconcealed.
--Martin Heidegger 'The Question Concerning Technology" p.19

Autofictional

On the naming of this blogspot...in case you are interested in the academic status of the term/'field' of study, here's a bit of context.

I studied and wrote my master's thesis on autofiction. In the thesis I critiqued literary theories of autobiography from a feminist perspective. Using a case study of Diana Thorneycroft's artistic work.

Here's the title and abstract - you can find the full text online from ProQuest.

Autofictional Practices: Self-fashioning in Diana Thorneycroft's Self-portraits

"This thesis explores autobiographical practices and their relationship to autofiction, by focusing on practices of identity construction and artistic performance, as well as identity construction through performance. Emphasis is given to the ways gender and sexuality enter into, and shape, these practices by examining, in particular, the way they are expressed in Diana Thorneycroft's photographic performances. Chapter 1 discusses the history and key debates in autobiography theory, the ways gender has been introduced into the analysis of autobiography, and non-literary forms of autobiography. Chapter 1 also briefly discusses the (Western) history of art by women. Chapter 2 examines Thorneycroft's oeuvre and selected responses to it. Chapter 3 presents an analysis of autofictional practices through an examination of Thorneycroft's photographic self-portraits, thereby questioning the distinctions between autobiography and autofiction and suggesting that there is considerable overlap in their definition. The Conclusion briefly discusses agency in relation to autofictional (self-making) practices."

Copyright 2006. Photograph by Matt Surch, prints available for sale upon request.

Interlocking Struggles Against Oppression

Three of my favourite quotes:

“Human domination of nature wears a garment cut from the same cloth as intra-human domination, but one which, like each of the others, has a specific form and shape of its own. Human relations to nature are not only ethical, but also political” ( Val Plumwood 1993:13).

“Feminism, as liberation struggle, must exist apart from and as a part of the larger struggle to eradicate domination in all forms. We must understand that patriarchal domination shares ideological foundation with racism and other forms of group oppression, that there is no hope that it can be eradicated while these systems remain intact” (bell hooks 1989:22).

“...‘the victim’ is a social construction. We all deal in a conventional wisdom that influences our perception of the world around us. This wisdom allows us to characterize the victims of crime. Moreover, it defines for us just who is the victim in any situation. What this also means is that alternative victims can be constructed. Why we conceive of some persons as victims and others not as victims is a consequence of our commonsense assumptions” (Richard Quinney 1973:321).

New Author and Upcoming Topics

I am pleased to announce that I will have Matt from Chreod joining me as co-author of this blog. We don't anticipate being able to contribute a lot of content before May but we will try our best. We are both fairly busy with other projects right now. Here's a little teaser though of things we will be writing about soon: 'eco-terrorism' and activism, philanthropy and cause-related marketing, vegan ethics of wool use, and children as 'resource'. And, of course, much more...

Topics of interest to me

This blog is my attempt at grappling with the issues and concerns I have on a daily or weekly basis with regards to: environmental protection, fair trade practices, vegan ethics, parenting, organic living, animals rights, activism, spiritual practices, 'natural' health...the gr/ow/es on.
I sincerely encourage comments from anyone who happens to glimpse or read from this site.