Abstract
This epilogue argues that cultivating a new orientation toward environmental guilt can help us engage ecological crisis more effectively. Drawing on Aldo Leopold’s land ethic, I propose redefining environmental guilt as the felt expression of care for biotic communities we have harmed or whose integrity, stability, and beauty we have failed to protect. When approached as a resource and teacher, environmental guilt can guide us toward ecological connection and care. In order to transform environmental guilt’s affective pull toward reconciliation and reparation, however, I contend that we must act as part of something greater than ourselves. Collective guilt calls for collective action.
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Jensen, T. (2019). Epilogue: The Future of Environmental Guilt. In: Ecologies of Guilt in Environmental Rhetorics. Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05651-3_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05651-3_6
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-05650-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-05651-3
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