Fourteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

The human/nature dualism that stems from the nature/culture divide is a Western concept that defines humans and nature as separate and distinct. For instance, we often think we are superior to plants or that cities and wilderness are opposite. The human/nature dualism is being challenged by researchers who are seeking a new way to define humans’ relationship with nature. Increasingly people’s beliefs around nature are shifting, coming from a feeling of separation from nature to an identification with it. ‘We are nature’ has become a prevalent idea in environmental discourses today. Yet within this process of identification to nature, we are still holding on to separatist beliefs related to the human/nature dualism. The idea of wilderness is one of them, it depicts wilderness as a place where humans are visitors, a place that loses its wild characteristic in the presence of human beings. While many persons are ready today to believe that they are nature, their logic reveals an apparent paradox as far as the notion of wilderness and their sense of humanhood in general are concerned. This paper illustrates the research I did as part of my doctoral studies following a qualitative methodology, deriving data from a survey of 220 participants, all persons living an eco-conscious and eco-friendly lifestyle in Australia and in the United States.