Living with tension : pursuing ecological practice in an Aotearoa/New Zealand eco-village : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
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Date
2017
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Massey University
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Abstract
This research explores the experiences of an eco-village in Aotearoa/New
Zealand, called Whakatipu, as they pursued ecologically ethical lifestyles. I stayed in
Whakatipu and undertook participant observation for a month, working alongside
residents, and interviewed eighteen of the thirty-eight people who live there. I use
Bourdieu’s theory of practice to analyse how eco-villagers pursued their ideals in
practice, with the aim of ascertaining whether elements of their experience could help
others, such as myself, pursue ecological living. A key concept from Bourdieu’s
framework is habitus, which helps to describe the naturalized, strategic way-of-being
in the world that eco-villagers had developed. My findings illustrate that despite
having strong motivations for ecological living, and the economic capacity to embark
on this project, eco-villagers were unable to achieve many of their ideals. A common
statement was ‘sustainability is not possible.’ All eco-villagers faced challenges to
their ability to achieve an ecological lifestyle, and had to make compromises.
Different people made different compromises, which contributed to conflict. Such
challenges existed, in part, because the societal context that Whakatipu was embedded
in was characterized by a consumer-capitalist ideology that eco-villagers
simultaneously rejected, but remained reliant on. Rather than considering themselves
to have failed, eco-villagers developed a habitus that enabled them to move towards
their ideal ecological lifestyle, despite their inability to completely achieve this
lifestyle.
These experiences demonstrate the need for context to be considered in
discussing the efforts of individuals to put their values into action. Ecologically
ethical living cannot simply be the result of individual action and responsibility.
Furthermore, rigid conceptions of ethical ‘success’ or ‘failure’ do not account for the
attempts of individuals, with diverse backgrounds and worldviews, to lead better lives
in constrained circumstances. Ecologically ethical living at an individual level is not
simply a matter of failure or success, but is better understood as efforts that create
progress towards an ideal.
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Environmentalism, Collective settlements, Village communities, Social aspects, New Zealand, Eco-village, Intentional community, Ecological ethics, Bourdieu, Eco-habitus, Ethical practice, Sustainability, Permaculture, Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Social anthropology/ethnography::Social anthropology