EcoTypes

Navigating Paradox in a Divided World

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EcoTypes Themes

Place | Knowledge | Action | Going Deeper

As you read in the overview, themes are statistical combinations of axes that address a common big question and embody a key tension in how we approach environmental issues.

Three EcoTypes themes and their contributing axes, including four for each.

These themes have been determined via factor analysis of thousands of responses to the EcoTypes survey. Factor analysis combines similar axes based on the biggest differences among respondents. Thus each theme also has two poles to express the key tension at its heart: nonhuman vs. human Place, old vs. new Knowledge, and small vs. big Action.

See below for more details on each of these three themes, in particular how their contributing axes might offer very different answers to their big question. You may also view 2022 survey results (n = 2479) for these themes.

Place

What world do we want, and what would be the place of nonhumans and humans?

Nonhuman Pole

Human Pole

This pole approaches the place of nonhumans and humans in our world as one in which nonhumans were here first. Bringing together the wild pole of Aesthetics, the static pole of Ecosystems, the biocentric pole of Ethics, and the pure pole of Nature, the nonhuman pole sets aside and prioritizes the natural world, and is not particularly impressed with human accomplishments, needs, and impacts. There can be a place in this world for humans, but only if it does not interfere with nonhuman flourishing, which is the necessary foundation for nonhuman Place. One possible online example: Half-Earth Project.

Human accomplishments and well-being define for this pole the relative place of nonhumans and humans in our world. Building on the crafted Aesthetics pole, the dynamic pole of Ecosystems, the anthropocentric Ethics pole, and the hybrid Nature pole, the human pole sees this world as a good place for humans to flourish, a place where change happens. It prioritizes human needs, and accepts—even celebrates—human transformations of the nonhuman world. There can be a place in this world for nonhumans, but human flourishing is more important, and the focus in human Place. One possible online example: Seeds of a Good Anthropocene.

Knowledge

What old and new ways of knowing will help us build the world we want?

Old Pole

New Pole

One approach to ways of knowing values what we have inherited from the past, what has stood the test of time. The old pole of the Knowledge theme builds on heterodox Science, sacred Spirituality, fear of Technology, and veneration of past Time to trust these old ways of knowing more than newer approaches to knowledge. The old pole moves tentatively into the future, leaning more into wisdom than innovation. One possible online example: Order of the Sacred Earth.

The new pole of the Knowledge theme prioritizes contemporary approaches, those that reflect the advancement of knowledge over time. Weaving together orthodox Science, secular Spirituality, love of Technology, and trust in future Time, this pole may or may not respect past traditions, but certainly places far more emphasis on the recent flourishing of scientific and related forms of knowledge. One possible online example: The Breakthrough Institute.

Action

What action at small and big scales will help us build the world we want?

Small Pole

Big Pole

This pole prioritizes small-scale action by each of us to build the world we want, as the only practical alternative and one that will eventually make a big (at least bigger) difference. Joining the incremental pole of the Change axis, the market pole of the Economies axis, the individual pole of the Social Scale axis, and the consensus pole of the Society axis (thus we share equal responsibility to act), the small pole of the Action theme is bottom-up, and attempts to be apolitical through and through. There are many possible online examples via e.g. a “Simple Things Environment” search.

Another way to think about what scale of action we need is based on the premise that big problems do indeed call for big solutions. The big pole of the Action theme weaves together the radical Change pole, the planned pole of the Economies axis, the institutional Social Scale pole, and the conflict Society pole (i.e., we are unequal, even in our responsibility to act), to focus on structural, more politicized change. Focusing on the little things we each can do, according to the big pole, is not action but distraction. One online example is System Change not Climate Change.

Going Deeper

Going Deeper With Place, Knowledge, and Action

The three EcoTypes themes you read above gather all twelve axes into three big questions, for which there are two very different answers, summarized via their poles.

Remember that these theme poles derive from actual survey responses. Choose one theme of interest, and reflect on how people might come up with such different answers.

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