Activism on deep ecology

Profile: Bill Devall

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Bill Devall (1938-2009) was an American sociologist who co-authored Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered (1985) with George Sessions. The book introduced deep ecology philosophy to North American audiences and examined the philosophical, psychological, and sociological dimensions of the environmental movement.

Born in Kansas City, Devall earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas and graduate degrees from the University of Hawaii and the University of Oregon. His doctoral thesis examined governance in the Sierra Club. He taught briefly at the University of Alberta before joining the Sociology Department at Humboldt State University in 1968, where he remained for his teaching career.

Profile: Bayo Akomolafe

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Bayo Akomolafe is a Nigerian psychologist, author, and philosopher who offers decolonial perspectives on mental health, spirituality, and environmental activism. Trained in Western psychology but rooted in Yoruba cosmology, he proposes “post-activist” approaches that examine assumptions about agency and social change.

Akomolafe’s philosophy emphasizes “slowing down” and “composting” - allowing old systems and identities to decompose so that new possibilities can emerge. Through The Emergence Network, he facilitates conversations about decolonizing research, education, and activism. His work examines how indigenous African philosophies can contribute to environmental movements while maintaining cultural sovereignty.

Profile: Helena Norberg-Hodge

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Helena Norberg-Hodge is a Swedish author, filmmaker, and activist who promotes economic localization as an alternative to industrial globalization. Through Local Futures, the organization she founded, she advocates for community-based economies that support both ecological sustainability and human well-being.

Norberg-Hodge’s seminal work “Ancient Futures” chronicles 16 years living in Ladakh, a traditional Himalayan society, where she witnessed the devastating impacts of Western-style development on both ecological systems and cultural traditions. This experience revealed how globalization destroys local knowledge, self-reliance, and environmental harmony that indigenous communities maintained for centuries.

Profile: Mohandas Gandhi

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948), known as Mahatma (“Great Soul”), developed the concept of satyagraha - nonviolent resistance - during the Indian independence movement. His philosophy of ahimsa (nonviolence) and simple living influenced subsequent social and environmental movements, including Arne Naess’s deep ecology.

Gandhi developed satyagraha while working in South Africa (1893-1914), where he organized resistance to discriminatory laws. The term combines satya (truth) and agraha (firmness or force). He distinguished satyagraha from passive resistance, proposing it as an active form of moral confrontation that seeks to appeal to an opponent’s conscience rather than to coerce through violence.

Profile: Sulak Sivaraksa

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Sulak Sivaraksa is Thailand’s most prominent Buddhist social critic and one of the founders of the international Engaged Buddhism movement. For over five decades, he has articulated a Buddhist approach to social, economic, and environmental issues that directly challenges both Western materialism and traditional Buddhism’s perceived detachment from worldly concerns.

Sivaraksa’s work demonstrates how Buddhist principles of interdependence, non-violence, and mindful consumption offer profound alternatives to industrial capitalism’s destructive relationship with nature. His concept of “Buddhist economics,” developed alongside E.F. Schumacher, proposes development models based on sufficiency, sustainability, and spiritual well-being rather than endless growth.

I believe that if you just do your little bit without thinking of the bigness of what you stand against, if you turn to the enlargement of your own capacities, just that itself creates new potential

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“I believe that if you just do your little bit without thinking of the bigness of what you stand against, if you turn to the enlargement of your own capacities, just that itself creates new potential.” – Vandana Shiva

A temperature rise of more than two degrees C risks altering the Earth system irreversibly.