Abstract
This chapter investigates a new pathway from a society based upon commodification and land-based exploitation to centering the land as a means to create equitable sustainable systems. It argues that we attain peaceful relationships with the land and our human family with a significant paradigm shift that removes commodification and consumption as our primary philosophical orientation. This chapter traces the links between the Enlightenment, Scientific Revolution, systemic racism, and human and land-based commdification to demonstrate the harm caused by exploitation of land and bodies. It further argues that centering the land establishes a path toward equitable environmental sustainability for all earthly nations, plant, animal, and human. Looking to places within the system that already depend upon top-level organization and community cooperation, like our educational institutions, can be a helpful start, but by no means is the only strategy.
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Rice, D.P. (2022). Decentralizing Consumption to Recenter the Land. In: Standish, K., Devere, H., Suazo, A., Rafferty, R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0969-5_37
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