Ecospheric care work

Aubrey Streit Krug

The Ecological Citizen Vol 3 No 2 2020: 143–8

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First published: 1 April 2020 | PERMANENT URL | DOWNLOAD CITATION IN RIS FORMAT

Abstract

Caring for other beings – both human and more-than-human – is crucial to our ongoing existence. This article connects an analysis of care work with an ecospheric perspective to conceptualize how the ecosphere, in which humans are embedded, might become both a recipient of and participant in care. Such ecospheric care work might help people learn to come back 'down to Earth' in a good and equitable way, during and after the collapse of energy-intensive systems. A brief reflective case study of an ecospheric care work project in perennial agriculture is used to suggest the value of urgent service to transformative long-term solutions, and to explore how humans may learn to practice ecospheric care work skilfully and collectively.

Keywords

Agriculture, Human-nature dualism, Societal change