Earth Stewardship and the Biocultural Ethic: Latin American Perspectives - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 98

and social well-being is being replaced by an accelerated process of biocultural
homogenization and socio-ecological degradation. 4

8.5 Eco-theology of Liberation

Broadening the perspective of Escobar, Brazilian liberation theologian Leonardo Boff
( 1995 , p. 24) affi rms that “today, in reality, it is not so much the development model that
is in a state of crisis, but [more deeply] the model of society that dominates the world.”
Boff represents a major fi gure in Latin American environmental thought due to his origi-
nal Christian Franciscan concepts, and to his arduous work dedicated to the
communication of environmental problems and proposals to solve them. 5 In his land-
mark topic Ecology and Liberation: A New Paradigm , Boff ( 1995 , pp. 27-28) proposes
a holistic, eco-social approach to environmental ethics, affi rming that “the new model of
society has to aim at a reconstruction of the social fabric, starting from the multiform
potentiality of humankind and society.” To articulate his holistic eco-theological pro-
posal, Boff distinguishes seven complementary “pathways” or practices of ecology,
which could be valuable for a holistic approach to Earth stewardship (Box 8.3 ).

Box 8.3. Leonardo Boff's Seven Paths of Ecology
Religious organizations in Latin America have linked environmental steward-
ship to concerns for equity by using the language of human rights. Much of
the impetus for such efforts has come from church pastoral work among
indigenous, Afro-Latino, and other minority cultural communities, supporting
and advocating for their rights to territory, resources, and self-determination,
often against government and corporate policies and interests. Such interven-
tions by religious groups, aligned with popular struggle in efforts to combat
the social, political, and economic injustices associated with marginalization
and poverty, draw upon an established history of pastoral agency in Latin
America, inspired by the Liberation Theology movement that emerged in the
1960s. One of the founders of liberation theology, Brazilian Leonardo Boff,
has proposed seven peaceful “pathways” or practices of ecology to articulate
a holistic eco-theological approach (Fig. 8.4 ).

(continued)

4 The process of biocultural homogenization entails simultaneous and interdigitated losses of
native biological and cultural diversity at local, regional, and global scales. This process leads to
the disruption of the interrelationships between cultures and their land, and results in the mas-
sive replacement of native biota and cultures by cosmopolitan species, languages, and cultures
(see Rozzi 2001 , 2012 , 2013 ).
5 For example, Leonardo Boff had a leading role in the writing and divulgation of the Earth Charter, a
declaration of fundamental ethical principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society
in the twenty-fi rst century. The Earth Charter involved a decade-long (1995-2005), worldwide, cross
cultural dialogue on common goals and shared values, and the document has been further enhanced by