Page 486 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

Chapter 39
Ecodemocracy and School Science:
How Projects of Confluence Guide

the Development of the Ecosociocultural

Michael P. Mueller and Deborah J. Tippins

Eco-Mentalism Paradox

When integrated holistically, a passion and love for cultural studies and
environmentalism is a serious mental disorder inflicting scholars, teachers, preachers,
politicians, activists, and children. For the purposes of this chapter, let us call this
disorder the “ecological mentalism¹ paradox”! It is more dangerous than malaria,
the common cold, and the flu. These diseases combined are very treacherous for
humans and yet the impacts of disease are far outweighed by the results of many
people’s shattering disorders, attitudes, and behaviors toward other human and
nonhuman lives. Diseases and cultural disorders are analogous in that they are both
highly resilient, adaptive, and will continue to evolve within different conditions,
during different periods of time, and in light of the “antibiotics” applied by
researchers and academics who endorse them over human history.
Lasting a long time now is an “antibiotic,” democracy – one of the most
highly prescribed and pervasive conventions for living in relation to others. But
what is democracy? Further, what is the emerging trend of “Earth democracy”
or “ecological democracy” described veraciously by Vandana Shiva (2005) –
why do scholars such as John Dewey (1916/1966) say that we move toward it
like a “truth!?” The purpose of this final chapter, in a book on the confluence of
justice, place-based (science) narratives, and indigenous existence, is to demon-
strate how confluence brings into being a larger wisdom of ecological knowing
and helps to expand the sociocultural realm in order to further develop ethics
that are inseparable from ecological well-being. While we do not fully develop
it in this chapter, the term ecosociocultural is one way of nurturing these
“ ecorelations.” Hence, we hope this book might serve as an impetus for the
further development of ecosociocultural theory and associated practice.
The reason for starting with plain metaphors of disease associated with humans
– really horrible disorders in some cases – is to show how absurd and irrational it
is to infer that disease (if it is a part of ecologies) should participate more fully in

M.P. Mueller and D.J. Tippins
University of Georgia

D.J. Tippins et al. (eds.), Cultural Studies and Environmentalism, 461
Cultural Studies of Science Education, Vol. 3, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3929-3_39,
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010