Summary Of Raymond Williams Ideas Of Nature

In his towering essay “Ideas of Nature,” Raymond Williams examined the dynamic relationship which humans hold with nature – a relationship which involves histories of intervention, separation, and domination – to investigate “whether nature include[s] man.” The dominant narratives which emerged from this debate suggest that nature* is wholly separate from human; contemporary discourse argues that nature is intrinsically where industry (and in extension human activity) is not. But what happens when nature becomes industrialized? Moreover, what happens when mechanized intervention invades the pastoral, a realm seen historically as natural? Building from Williams’ line of inquiry, I seek to question two practices which widen the rift between humans …show more content…
They emphasize moral, apolitical strategies based on abstaining from certain forms of consumption, which in turn can “constitute another alienation from nature.” Traditional methods of vegan and animal rights activism utilize the tools offered by capitalism to make their case for non-humans; their campaigns include boycotting Ringling Bros. for their brutal treatment of elephants and calling on McDonald’s to “use a less cruel slaughter method” on their chickens, or engaging in visible demonstrations to raise consciousness. PETA and other such organizations provide useful models on how to engage with and dismantle cultural norms surrounding meat consumption and animal exploitation, helping significantly to undermine the ideas which uphold the human/non-human divides; often their activists do so by symbolically or visually placing their bodies in the place of non-human victims of industrial agriculture. Their protests, however, fall short of direct action or anything that directly impedes the processes of capitalism or industrial agriculture and, in doing so, fail to address the systemic issue …show more content…
With this potential, veganism needs to move from the realm of half-baked activism to full-blown resistance and restructuring. Peter Gelderloos, speaking from an anarchist perspective, offers some solutions on how this can look, for example, creating gardens and farms that are “modeled on an ecosystem rather than a factory” to develop diets and practices self-sustenance outside of capitalist consumption. Moreover, organizations, such the Earth and Animal Liberation Fronts, who participate in direct action and economic sabotage to actively disrupt capitalist modes of production and the norms it upholds – unlike the symbolic and reformist actions of groups like PETA – represent forms of militant and political veganism which has real revolutionary