Bioregionalism originated with the mid-1970s counter-culture of the western United States. It began as a social critique of ecologically unsustainable lifestyles and evolved into an alternative way of living, which stresses participation in community, local control of resources, and a large measure of self-determination. It strives for harmony between human communities and nature by seeking to respect the genius loci of places and regions (Parsons, 1985). Thus, it aims to counteract the increasing pace and decreasing quality of life.
Early apologists of the movement included the Canadian Allan Van Newkirk (Van Newkirk, 1974) and the Californian Peter Berg (Berg and Dasman, 1977). The ideals of bioregionalism have been vigorously promoted from San Francisco by Berg's Planet Drum Foundation, and from the eastern United States by the Ozark Area Community Congress (OACC), which was first convened in 1980 and which two years later spawned the Bioregional Projectof Brixley,...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Alexander, Donald, 1990. Bioregionalism: science or sensibility. Environ. Ethics, 12, 161–73.
Berg, P., and Dasman, R., 1977. Reinhabiting California. Ecologist, 7, 399–401.
Frenkel, S., 1994. Old theories in new places? Environmental determinism and bioregionalism. Prof. Geog., 46, 289–95.
Parsons, J. J., 1985. On ‘bioregionalism’ and ‘watershed consciousness.’ Prof. Geog., 37, 1–6.
Sale, K., 1985. Dwellers in the Land: The Bioregional Vision. San Francisco, Calif.: Sierra Club, 217 pp.
Van Newkirk, A., 1975. Bioregions: towards bioregional strategy for human cultures. Environ. Conserv., 2, 108.
Cross-references
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this entry
Cite this entry
Alexander, D.E. (1999). Bioregionalism. In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_38
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_38
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-412-74050-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4494-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive