L'ecologisme aux etats-unis : le cas des forets du nord-ouest pacifique
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Abstract EN:
The "conservation" and "preservation" of the 1980s gave rise to two currents within contemporary american environmentalism, mainstream environmentalism, anthropocentric, as opposed to radical environmentalism, mostly biocentric. Environmentalism was institutionalized as early as 1970. By that time, the influence of deep ecology and its biocentric principles over the radical current of environmentalism began to grow. Deep ecologists sharply criticize the anthropocentrism of american traditional values. The historical background thus gives its full significance to the case of the spotted owl, which brought the timber industry to a standstill in the northwest, after years of litigation. That may be the reason why one of the anti-environmental wise use movement's major groups is the loggers' yellow ribbon coalition. The stark conflict between anthropocentrism and biocentrism has also shaped the evolution of the federal agencies in charge of federal lands (national park service, forest service, blm) towards a more ecological approach. Politicians have to take into account growing environmental awareness. Public opinion polls, major organizations' policies , the social origins of environmentalists, the influence of the media, are scrutinized to assess the clout of environmentalism. Option 9 (1994) thus appears as the emergence of a new social paradigm that breaks away from the frontier tradition. It is largely shaped by ecologism as it redefines the relations of american society towards nature, especially the wilderness, which has been loved to death. At the sale time as the wilderness is being impaired in its essence, the notion of wildness is catching public attention. American culture therefore goes on exploring the notion of nature in an attempt to redefine entirely new relations with it, inspired by ecologism, as opposed to the frontier tradition of conquest, exploitation and dominance.
Abstract FR:
La distinction, a la fin du siecle dernier, entre "conservation" et "preservation", est a l'origine des deux courants de l'envinnementalisme americain contemporain : l'environnementalisme dominant, anthropocentrique, et l'environnementalisme "radical", biocentrique. L'environnementalisme est des 1970 institutionnalise. C'est a cette epoque que commence sur le courant radical du mouvement l'influence de l'"ecologie profonde", d'inspiration biocentrique, tres critique a l'egard de l'anthropocentrisme dominant de la tradition americaine. Cette mise en perspective donne sa signification a l'affaire de la chouette tachetee dans le nord-ouest, ou elle paralysa l'exploitation forestiere par le biais de la procedure. L'environnementalisme provoque par ailleurs de vives reactions, dont la yellow ribbon coalition des bucherons, etle wise use movement. Des conflits semblables se retrouvent dans l'evolution vers une "ecologisation" de la politique des agences responsables de la gestion des terres federales (national park service, forest service et blm). Le pouvoir politique quant a lui doit prendre en compte le poids de l'environnementalisme, dont on propose une etude a travers les sondages, le fonctionnement des grandes organisations, les origines sociales de ses adherents, l'influence des medias. Ainsi les dispositions du plan clinton pour la foret (1994) peuvent etre interpretees comme la manifestation du passage de la tradition de la frontiere a un nouveau paradigne social ou l'ecologisme jour un role essentiel. En redefinissant les rapports de la societe a la nature, l'ecologisme conduit au reexamen d'une notion essentiellement americaine, celle de nature sauvage. Victime de sa popularite, envahie, elle perd son essence. Dans le meme temps, le theme de la sauvageries (wildness par opposition a wilderness) connait une faveur grandissante. La culture americaine continue donc son exploraton privilegiee du concept de "nature". Elle tente d'etablir avec celle-ci des rapports radicalement nouveaux, inspires par l'ecologisme, a l'oppose de la tradition de domination et d'exploitation.