What is “Environmental Education for an Ecologically Sustainable Culture” ?: A Critical Analysis of C. A. Bowers' Major Propositions

Abstract

  This paper explores C. A. Bowers' main thesis: “environmental education for an ecologically sustainable culture”, and tries to determine how the thesis is important in the theoretical effort to develop Education for Sustainability (EfS). The critical analysis centers on Bowers' three major propositions: (1) the radical criticism addressed to modern Western orthodoxies in terms of their compatibility with ecological sustainability; (2) the “reactionary” position against the unchallenged belief supporting the idea of “progress” with a particular emphasis on technological innovation; and (3) Bowers' peculiar “holism”, which largely denies individualism and liberalism. These three propositions clearly separate Bowers' position from the mainstream ideas of environmental education. Bowers' argument, though with quite a few important flaws, serves as a good reference in trying to work out alternative approaches to environmental education helping us to reach a sustainable society.