TY - JOUR A1 - Gunderson, Ryan T1 - Erich Fromm's Ecological Messianism: The First Biophilia Hypothesis as Humanistic Social Theory JF - Humanity and Society, Vol. 38 (No. 2, 2014), pp. 182-204. N2 - Revisiting Erich Fromm’s works provides a theoretical foundation for a comprehensive and normative theory of human–nature relations that contains psychical, social, economic, and ethical components. Fromm’s system of thought was rooted in understanding humanity’s effort to establish meaningful relations with the natural world and how socioeconomic systems mediate this endeavor. His normative theory maintained that society must develop a nondestructive relationship with the environment by fostering and perfecting the human potentiality of biophilia—a thorough love of living beings. He argued that biophilia will not become the prevailing character structure until society is capable of meeting three prerequisites for human flourishing: security, justice, and freedom. Because Fromm’s social–ecological and ethical insights were partially rooted in humanism and Talmudic studies, he forces environmental scholars to rethink the Judeo-Christian and humanistic traditions, two pillars of Western thought often criticized in environmental literature. Y1 - 2014 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gunderson, Ryan T1 - The First-generation Frankfurt School on the Animal Question. Foundations for a Normative Sociological Animal Studies JF - Sociological Perspectives, Vol. 57 (No. 3, September 2014), pp. 285-300. N2 - Well before the now flourishing field of animal studies, the thinkers associated with Frankfurt, Germany’s Institute of Social Research theorized and problematized society’s troubling relationship with animals. Early critical theory explored the various manifestations of >unrelenting exploitation< animals have experienced in human societies and maintained that the domination of animals is intimately linked to the domination of human beings, especially of women and racial and ethnic minorities. They criticized Western thought for instrumentalist attitudes toward animals and were committed to extending compassion to animals. Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno, and Herbert Marcuse mount four challenges to sociologists today: (1) to unmask the shared forms of domination experienced by both animals and marginalized human beings, (2) for environmental sociologists to make animals a principle subject of investigation, (3) for sociological animal studies scholars to engage with philosophy, and (4) to adopt a critical and normative sociological perspective when studying human–animal relations. Y1 - 2014 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gunderson, Ryan T1 - Social barriers to biophilia: Merging structural and ideational explanations for environmental degradation JF - The Social Science Journal, Vol. 51, No. 4 (2014), pp. 681-685. [Online ISSN: 1873-5355] [doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2014.06.002] N2 - Erich Fromm argues that the only reliable way to solve the environmental crisis is to alter current social formations in a way in which biophilia can flourish, so humankind can solve its existential dichotomy as well as meet survival needs in an ecologically sound way. However, society's preoccupation with the non-alive-elements such as technique, the mechanical, gadgets, and commodities – shows that the modern social character is far from biophilous. Instead, modern societies are inherently ecologically destructive due to systematic processes and attraction to its progress is a less acute form of, what Fromm terms, necrophilia. His insights can help formulate a social theory of environmental degradation that includes structural and ideational variables. Prescriptively, this means appeals for value changes must correspond with fitting appeals for structural changes in social systems. Y1 - 2014 ER -