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Abstract
In this paper, we argue that two key trends – an unfolding ecological crisis and a reduction in the amount of (cheap) energy available to society – bring into question both the relevance and the resilience of existing educational systems, requiring us to rethink both the content and the form of education in general, and peace education in particular. Against this background, we consider the role education might play in enabling citizens and societies to adapt peacefully to conditions of energy descent and a less benign ecological system, taking seriously the possibility that there will be fewer resources available for education. Drawing on Wes Jackson’s and Wendell Berry’s concept of an education in ‘homecoming’, and on E.F. Schumacher’s concept of ‘appropriate technology’, we suggest a possible vision of peace education. We propose that such education might be focused around ‘appropriate knowledge’, commitment to place, and an understanding of the needs and characteristics of each local context. We then consider an example of what this might mean in practice, particularly under conditions of increasing resource scarcity: Permaculture education in El Salvador, we suggest, illustrates the characteristics and relevance of an education that aims to foster ‘appropriate knowledge’ within a particular and very challenging context. The paper concludes by considering the wider implications of our argument.
Notes
1. There is, of course, a much larger body of work on environmental education, with a number of journals dedicated to this theme. It would go beyond the scope of this paper to cover them in detail here.
2. Anderson and Bows’ suggest that a 10% annual reduction in carbon emissions (from 2008) is necessary, if we are to have a 50% chance of limiting a global temperature rise above 2 degrees indicates the kind of urgency that is lacking from current political and social responses to climate change (Anderson and Bows Citation2008, Citation2011).
3. See Richard Kahn’s discussion of the differences between the ‘anarchist’ vision of Ivan Illich and the ‘emancipatory, leftist’ Paulo Freire (Kahn Citation2009). Our questioning of a ‘transformative’ agenda arguably resonates with Illich’s critique of ‘promethean’ thinking.
4. For examples, see the recent publication by the UK’s Higher Education Academy’s Geographical and Environmental Sciences Subject Centre on Pedagogy of Climate Change (Citation2011), online at http://www.gees.ac.uk/pubs/other/pocc/pocc.htm.
5. We have yet to find a detailed exploration of this topic, but there are analogous discussions of the potential impact of resource limitations on other public services. See, for example, Schwartz et al. (Citation2011).
6. In Education for Liberation, Curle (Citation1973) argues that ‘education, as it is mostly practised, does not so much free men from ignorance, tradition and servility, as fetter them to the values and aspirations of a middle class which many of them are unlikely to join’. His ‘disillusionment’ with education followed a disillusionment with a specific, primarily economic notion of ‘development’ being promoted (through education) in the ‘third world’. To succeed educationally in this context is ‘to acquire the skills and congruent attitudes for economic development, that is to say, acquiescent participation in the technological adance and social callousness which has marked the material progress of the West … competitive materialism’. Curle counterposes a different notion of development (a form of society in which all human beings may live with peace, dignity and satisfaction), for which a different ideal of education is necessary.
7. Under the auspices of Bradford University’s ‘Ecoversity’ programme, we recently organised a one-day deliberative forum, providing an opportunity for staff and students in the School of Social and International Studies to learn about climate change and peak oil, and to deliberate on a range of proposals for future ‘sustainability’. Despite a broad effort to engage people from across the School, we mainly recruited those ‘already concerned’ about the issues. Even amongst this well-informed and committed group, we found a clear reluctance to accept proposals that involved any significant change or inconvenience. For example, there was no strong support for proposals to limit flying by staff or students, or related measures to re-localise universities, in recognition of the carbon costs of the university’s international activity. Subsequent deliberations on the same issues as part of core teaching sessions demonstrated a similar pattern and a reluctance to question key drivers of academic life, e.g. values of individualism and competition.
8. There is a body of work on place and education, some of which is directly informed by Wendell Berry’s writings. See for example: Nespor (Citation2008); Somerville (Citation2010).
9. Our claim here is not that permaculture is the only relevant framework for an education based on the idea of ‘appropriate knowledge’, but that existing experiences in permaculture education are one starting-point for reflections on the challenges and opportunities that arise in practice.
10. See www.himalayanpermaculture.com.
14. See, for example, http://pri-de.net/board/.
16. We have chosen to focus on the example of IPES partly because the available sources on its activities include a recent PhD which explores permaculture as peacebuilding and contains a wealth of material from interviews on the ground (Felix-Romero Citation2010). We also have links to IPES through meeting its director, Karen Inwood, on a visit to the UK, through the UK’s Permaculture Association, and through several of our students who have been IPES volunteers.
17. For discussions of this methodology see: Holt-Giménez (Citation2006). Campesino a campesino: Voices from Latin America’s farmer to farmer movement for sustainable Agriculture. Oakland, California: Food First Books; Peter Michael Rosset et al. (Citation2011). The campesino-to-campesino agroecology movement of ANAP in Cuba: Social process methodology in the construction of sustainable peasant agriculture and food sovereignty. Journal of Peasant Studies. 38: 1, 161–191. The example of Cuba also highlights the relationship between the form and scale of social structures, the emergence of ‘appropriate knowledge’, and degrees of social-ecological resilience.
18. While this is likely to be partly due to the key characteristics of permaculture itself (including its ethical principles and its emphasis on creating beneficial relationships), this has probably been enhanced by what Karen Inwood, IPES director, has brought to this work – a background in community development and a keen interest in applying permaculture principles to relationship- and organisation-building. (Personal conversation with Karen Inwood, November 2010).
19. See http://maoes.net.
20. It is important to note, though, that some of Felix-Romero’s interviewees also suggest that they would welcome some additional training in conflict resolution. There clearly is potential for mutual learning between permaculture and peace education/conflict resolution in both directions.