Lab Assignment 5 Cronon
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University of Colorado, Boulder *
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Philosophy
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Apr 3, 2024
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Lab Assignment 5: Cronon’s “The Trouble with Wilderness”
Instructions
:
Please read Cronon’s essay “The Trouble with Wilderness” for this assignment. It is a challenging and complex article but try to get a sense of the overall argument Cronon is making and how
he develops and builds that argument. (Note that Lecture 11 will help you identify key points.) Answer the following questions with a few sentences or a short paragraph for each. Upload your responses to Canvas (this document is the write up).
I. Initial Reactions.
1.
How do you react to the concept of “Wilderness?” What does the term mean to you? Do you see yourself as an environmentalist? A wilderness supporter?
2.
How do you see the concept of Wilderness used around you? How are appeals to this ideal used in your community (e.g., Boulder, Denver)? And in environmental politics, more generally?
II. Key Quotes:
The central point of Cronon’s argument seems straightforward: Wilderness is not a natural phenomenon, but an attitude reflecting mindsets in European and American culture. These attitudes can
be contradictory and pose problems for environmental politics, both in America and in the developing world. For this section of the assignment,
choose four
of the following quotes from Cronon’s argument and explain in your own words what you think the quote means. Be sure to include in your answer: -
What concepts is Cronon referring to? -
How does this argument fit into Cronon’s overall point?
1.
“Wilderness hides its unnaturalness behind a mask that is all the more beguiling because it seems so
natural.” (7)
2.
“…Sublime landscapes were those rare places on Earth where one had more chance than elsewhere to glimpse the face of God.” (10)
3.
“Wild country became a place not just of religious redemption but of national renewal, the quintessential location for experiencing what it meant to be an American.” (13)
4.
“The flight from history that is very nearly the core of wilderness represents the false hope of an escape from responsibility.” (16)
5.
“A dualistic vision in which the human is entirely outside the natural.” (17)
6.
“Yet protecting the rainforest, in the eyes of First World environmentalists, all too often means protecting it from those who live there.” (18)
7.
“Idealizing a distant wilderness too often means not idealizing the environment in which we actually live, the landscape that we for better or worse call home.” (21)
8.
“We need to embrace the full continuum of a natural landscape that is also cultural.” (24)
Lab Assignment 5: Cronon’s “The Trouble with Wilderness”
III. Summing up and Evaluating Cronon’s arguments.
Having looked in detail at Cronon’s essay, think back over his argument as a whole. Do you agree with
what he is saying? 1.
What critiques does Cronon make of Wilderness-focused environmentalism in developed and developing worlds?
2.
What would Cronon’s “natural landscape that is also cultural” look like? Can you find examples of it in/around Boulder? How do these examples differ from pure wilderness?
3.
How
does Cronon’s argument challenge your understanding of Wilderness, as you described it at the
beginning of the assignment? Does putting this concept in cultural context help you see it in new ways, or change your views? Is Cronon’s argument still as groundbreaking as it was in the 1990s, or has it become less relevant over time?
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