"OTHERNESS"

Social and ecological dimensions

"Other" and "otherness are technical terms used in the social sciences and humanities for the way people tend to view others (people or nature) that are dissimilar and separated. It is used in at least two different ways.
>> In some cases the terms are used in a general and neutral way to signify that which is fundamental different, as in my notion of “nature as sacred Other.”
>> In other cases the terms imply a complex system of devaluation. The following are different but interrelated dimensions of this perspective.

1. " Objectified":The Other is treated as "mere object". Inability or refusal to consider the other as a "subject," as part of one's community (of humans, etc.).

• social : Headless women on a billboard; Native Americans as team logo.
• ecological : Animals in factory farms; animals in advertisements (Chik-fil-A); nature as backdrop for selling SUVs.

>> ecosocial response: insist on the "other" as being a subject in itself and a part of the community

2. Difference and separation: The Other is not like us. Inability or refusal to see similarity, continuity, etc.

• social : Africans and Native Americans not seen as human beings.
• ecological : We are separate from (and above) nature. Culture is not part of nature. Animals are machines that don’t suffer.

>> ecosocial response: Point out similarity and continuity; see ourselves as animals and see language as wild; see animals as having intelligence and pain.

3. The Same as Us : The Other is just like us. Inability or refusal to see difference and discontinuity.

• social : The melting pot ideal. “The Western Tradition” and “human condition” as a single and undifferentiated; thus white males can speak for all.
• ecological : Not usually applied to nature.

>> ecosocial response: point out the reality and significance of differences between Other and dominant group (and thus the need to study women and other cultures and give them a voice).

4. Simplified: Inability or refusal to see the differences among members of the "Other" group.

• social : "Oh, (blacks, women, etc.) are all the same."
• ecological : “When you’ve seen one redwood tree, you’ve seen them all” (President Reagan). All wetlands are the same and therefore we can destroy one if we make another.

>> ecosocial response: Point out internal differences within the Other.

5. Unchanging: Inability or refusal to see changes through time in a group. “We” can change and develop, but “they” can’t.

• social : Native Americans had no history or development.
• ecological : Ecosystems in climax as unchanging.

>> ecosocial response: Point out historical changes.

6. Passive . The Other is passive and receptive and lacks agency. Only the dominant group has the power to be active and affect things.

• social : Women as passive, needing men to solve problems or help them or create culture.
• ecological : We impact a passive nature that does not react to our control. We affect nature; nature doesn’t affect (e.g., teach or control) us.

>> ecosocial response: Point out examples of how supposedly passive social groups and nature are active, assertive, and affect the dominant group.

7. Invisibility. Inability or refusal to recognize their actual existence.

• social : Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man; no Hispanics in the media; historical model of NC farm with no women; the “ New World ” as “empty” (despite being populated by Native Americans).
• ecological : maps with only roads and state boundaries; the “ New World ” as “empty” (despite being full of rich biological communities).

>> ecosocial response: Stress the reality, value, achievements, and difference of the Other; insist on its inclusion.

8. No voice (either in the sense of speaking/being heard or in the sense of power)

• social : Lack of people of color or women authors in literary “canon”; lack of vote; white males in Congress, in corporate board rooms, as Hollywood directors.
• ecological : Who speaks for the rights and welfare of animals, plants, and ecosystems?

>> ecosocial response: Allow other people to speak their experience (e.g., literature, journals) and ideas. Have certain people speak for the Other (but this is dangerous—can involve usurping the voice of the Other)

9. Abstract: The Other is treated in a way that is divorced from to its concrete actuality, individuality, and diversity, and divorced from the reality of the relationship between the Other and the dominant group.

• social : “Women,” “the Third World ,” “consumers”.
• ecological : “Natural resources,” “Nature.”

>> ecosocial response: Recognize the concrete specificity of people and place

10. Devalued: the other has no value, or there is only instrumental value to "us."

• social : Women, blacks, etc., devalued in a wide variety of ways.
• ecological : Nature has instrumental value only; nature without human labor mixed in is just “raw land” (John Locke)

>> ecosocial response: Insist on full and intrinsic value

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