The "ecosystem" concept in the political : ecology discourse
- In the 20th century, the term "ecosystem" was one of the most important concepts for the biological discipline "ecology." Originally coined by the English botanist Arthur G. Tansley in an article from 1935, it is now a well-established term. The authors of the textbook 'Ecology' write, the ecosystem concept "has become a powerful tool for integrating ecology with other disciplines." But this only addresses the scientific resonance of the term. In the 1970s "ecosystem" also became an important concept for the environmental movement, for the term "ecosystem" describes nature as a whole entity, in which all things are linked together, forming a network of biotic and abiotic factors. In this sense, the "ecosystem" concept also took on a key role in the political ecology discourse. This article begins with a look at the political ecology discourse, and then focuses on the formation of the "ecosystem" concept. The terminological development of the term turns first to the linguistic definition of "ecosystem" before looking how the ecosystem became an established concept by transforming the object "lake" into the scientific object "ecosystem." Sections four and five further pursue the role of the ecosystem concept in the environmental discourse, based on the metaphor of "spaceship earth" on the one hand and of the "closing circle" on the other. Finally, the article contextualizes the "ecosystem" concept in conjunction with Claude Lefort's concept of "the political." As we will see, the political impact of the "ecosystem" concept inheres in the very term itself for it describes a wholeness that human beings are inevitably a part of even as their actions alter or disturb with the ecosystem fundamentally. In other words, human beings are both inside and outside of the "ecosystem" at the same time. This paradoxical situation is inevitably constituted by the concept "ecosystem", which is understood as a (nearly) closed system. Hence solutions to environmental problems aim at reintegrating human beings into the closed circle of the global ecosystem through technical constructions or through adapting to natural processes.
Author: | Benjamin Bühler |
---|---|
URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-429591 |
URL: | http://www.zfl-berlin.org/tl_files/zfl/downloads/publikationen/forum_begriffsgeschichte/ZfL_FIB_3_2014_2_Buehler.pdf |
ISSN: | 2195-0598 |
Parent Title (German): | Forum Interdisziplinäre Begriffsgeschichte |
Publisher: | Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung Berlin (ZfL) |
Place of publication: | Berlin |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | German |
Year of Completion: | 2017 |
Year of first Publication: | 2014 |
Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
Release Date: | 2017/03/08 |
GND Keyword: | Ökologie; Begriffsgeschichte <Fach>; Politische Ökologie; Lefort, Claude; Politik; Das Politische; Ökosystem; Begriff |
Volume: | 3 |
Issue: | 2 |
Page Number: | 16 |
First Page: | 19 |
Last Page: | 32 |
HeBIS-PPN: | 450787931 |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 50 Naturwissenschaften / 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik |
8 Literatur / 80 Literatur, Rhetorik, Literaturwissenschaft / 800 Literatur und Rhetorik | |
Sammlungen: | CompaRe | Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft |
CompaRe | Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft / Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Berlin | |
Zeitschriften / Jahresberichte: | Forum Interdisziplinäre Begriffsgeschichte / Forum Interdisziplinäre Begriffsgeschichte. 3. Jahrgang [Heft] 2 |
: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-443506 |
Licence (German): | Deutsches Urheberrecht |