NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
ERIC Number: ED472074
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2002-May
Pages: 7
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
We Make Spirit By Walking: An Application of Kovel's Spirituality to the Life and Work of Committed Environmentalists.
McDonald, Barbara
An analytical framework based on Joel Kovel's five meditations on spirit (spirit power, spirit being, spirit meaning, spirit and desire, and divine spirit) was used to explore the spirituality of committed environmental activists. A purposeful and snowball sampling method was used to interview 18 individuals with a strong commitment to environmental social action. Of the 18 individuals (8 women and 10 men aged 28 to 87 years), 8 were environmental volunteers and 10 were employed in the environmental field. The participants described their spiritual paradigms as follows: monotheist, 4; atheist, 2; pantheist, 10; agnostic, 4; and "would-not-divulge," 1. All the participants were deeply committed to and engaged in environmental activism. Although a few of them believed in a traditional God, none were fundamentalists and none saw their particular belief system as superior or the only true one. Many of them believed that they have received communication or guidance from divine spirit. They all believed that learning plays an important role in their lives and that their environmental work is the making of spirit. This was particularly true for the 16 participants who saw vital power manifested in nature and nonhuman beings. (10 references) (MN)
Adult and Community College Education, Box 7801, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7801 ($30). For full text: http://www.ncsu.edu/ced/acce/aerc/start.pdf.
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A