A REENCHANTED WORLD

Gibson (Sociology/California State Univ., Long Beach; Warrior Dreams: Paramilitary Culture in Post-Vietnam America, 1993, etc.) examines the struggle to make nature sacred once again.

The author envisions “reenchantment” as a longing for connection to the natural world and the ability to “rediscover and embrace nature’s mystery and grandeur.” Gibson notes that mankind’s heedless destruction of nature has been accepted since the death of many of the earth-worshipping religions. In pre-industrial times, the author writes, “[n]o one would cut down a grove of trees to build houses, for example, if forest spirits were believed to inhabit the woods.” With the rise of organized religion and industrialization, man’s connection to the environment began to disintegrate. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were among the first to speak out about how factories and the newly modernized lifestyle was degrading nature. Engels wrote that the Irk River in Manchester, once pristine, was now “a long string of the most disgusting, blackish-green, slime pools.” Ansel Adams and others used photography and other mediums to capture the astounding beauty of nature in hopes of inspiring its protection. A significant landmark came in 1962, with the publication Rachel Carson’s breakthrough environmental book The Silent Spring, which “prompted others to take up the issue of pollution.” Gibson levels a particularly venomous attack on the George W. Bush administration for the utter environmental destruction it propagated during Bush’s tenure in office. From moving to open national forests to timber harvesting and oil and gas drilling, to refusing to classify new endangered species and protect their dwindling habitats, the author notes that the Bush administration’s “all-out attack on the nation’s public lands and environmental laws was unprecedented in its thoroughness and hostility.” Gibson ends on an upbeat note, as he points out new progress in fighting back against the damage caused in the past century and looks hopefully at the long journey ahead.

Sad, illuminating and ultimately inspiring.