#ecotheory

Dark ecology is a way to explain the “irony, ugliness, and horror” of ecology. This is a way to look at and appreciate not only the lush, serene, and idealistic pieces of nature, but also simple or ugly things.

Timothy Morton argues that ecology is more than just biology and science. It is everything in this world connected. It is art and the humanities along with science. He calls this the ecological thought. Morton writes, “[i[t has to do with reading and writing. It has to do with race, class, and gender. It has to do with sexuality” (2). The ecological thought forces us to become one with nature instead of “othering’ it like we always have. We put it over there, far away, somewhere almost unreachable. But Morton is saying it is us, everything around us and in between. Morton terms it “the mesh,” an intimacy, interconnectedness, a coexistence that is open-ended (8)

--

"It is imperative to examine ecology without the romanticized notion of nature looming over its discourse. There are numerous instances of environmentalist movements that are primarily focused on preserving this idealized “nature” instead of considering what is actually best for the environment. For example, solar and wind farms are often rejected by communities because they don’t look “natural”. Instead of being concerned about energy preservation, the public is wary that these large industrial farms with “spoil their view.” Morton writes that this “is truly a case of the aesthetics of Nature impeding ecology” (9). It’s because of instances like this that the human race will not be able to truly address the environmental realities of the planet without first eradicating this ideological perception of what is “natural” and “unnatural”. Industrial facilities are a part of the modern society in which we all exist.

--

Morton writes on dark ecology: “A more honest ecological art would linger in the shadowy world of irony and difference…The ecological thought includes negativity and irony, ugliness and horror.” We must not shield the ugliness inherent in ecology from our view, but rather, acknowledge, or even celebrate it. Oil spills, windmills, landfills and road-kill; these are some examples of dark ecology. If we are thinking in the totality called for by the ecological thought, we need the whole picture.

--

Two of the concepts within the ecological theory are: the mesh and strange stranger. In the broad world, the more we know something, the more ambiguous it becomes and we understand it less. Morton defines the the mesh as the interconnectedness of all living and non-living things. He recognizes that the mesh is jumbled and tangled and is not easily navigable. “It is a vast, sprawling mesh of interconnection without a definite center or edge” (The Ecological Thought 8).