"Yellowstone holds a special place in America's heart. As the world's first national park, it is globally recognized as the crown jewel of modern environmental preservation. But the park and its surrounding regions have recently become a lightning rod for environmental conflict, plagued by intense and intractable political struggles among the federal government, National Park Service, environmentalists, industry, local residents, and elected officials. The Battle for Yellowstone asks why it is that, with the flood of expert scientific, economic, and legal efforts to resolve disagreements over Yellowstone, there is no improvement? Why do even seemingly minor issues erupt into impassioned disputes? What can Yellowstone teach us about the worsening environmental conflicts worldwide? Justin Farrell argues that the battle for Yellowstone has deep moral, cultural, and spiritual roots that until now have been obscured by the supposedly rational and technical nature of the conflict.
Tracing in unprecedented detail the moral causes and consequences of large-scale social change in the American West, he describes how a ""new-west"" social order has emerged that has devalued traditional American beliefs about manifest destiny and rugged individualism, and how morality and spirituality have influenced the most polarizing and techno-centric conflicts in Yellowstone's history. This groundbreaking book shows how the unprecedented conflict over Yellowstone is not all about science, law, or economic interests, but more surprisingly, is about cultural upheaval and the construction of new moral and spiritual boundaries in the American West."
By:
Justin Farrell
Imprint: Princeton University Pres
Country of Publication: United States
Volume: 71
Dimensions:
Height: 235mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 18mm
Weight: 482g
ISBN: 9780691176307
ISBN 10: 0691176302
Series: Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 28 February 2017
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
"List of Illustrations ix List of Tables xiii Acknowledgments xv Introduction: Bringing Moral Culture into the Fray 1 Introducing the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem 5 Toward a Theory of Morality and Environment 8 Human Believers, Narrative Structure, and Enacting Moral Orders 12 Theoretical Contributions 17 A Roadmap 29 1.Believing in Yellowstone: The Moralization of Nature and the Creation of America's Eden 34 Early Utilitarian Use and the Formation of Yellowstone National Park 40 A Spiritual Moral Vision 52 A Biocentric Moral Vision 56 Social Change and the ""Greater"" Yellowstone Ecosystem 60 Conclusion 65 2.The New (Wild) West: Social Upheaval, Moral Devaluation, and the Rise of Conflict 66 The Old West, and Roots of the New 70 The Rise of the New-West 75 The Moral Effects of New-West Change 89 Environmental Conflict 96 Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Stakeholder Arena 100 The Rise of Conflict, 1870-2012 108 Conclusion 118 3.Buffalo Crusaders: The Sacred Struggle for America's LastWild and Pure Herd 119 Overview of the Issue 122 The Buffalo Field Campaign 125 The Moral Logic of a Movement: Purity, Wildness, Virtue 132 Successes of Moral-Spiritual Protest 146 Concluding Puzzle: Religious and Moral ""Muting"" 159 Conclusion 166 4.Between Good and Evil: The Science, Culture, and Polarization of Wolf Conflict 168 Uncovering the Anti-Wolf Moral Order 172 Rugged American Individualism 174 Human Dominionism 180 Simple and Sacred Heritage 188 Uncovering the Pro-Wolf Moral Order 196 Features of the Pro-Wolf Moral Order 198 The Primary Role of Morality and Spirituality 203 Multiple Meanings: Co-Occurrence of Spirituality and Rationality 208 Conclusion 213 5.Drilling Our Soul: Moral Boundary Work in an Unlikely Old-West Fight against Fracking 217 A State of Mining 221 Drilling in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem 225 Considering Alternative Explanations 233 ""Too Special to Drill"": Place Attachment and Drawing Moral Boundaries 238 Three Profiles of Old-West Environmentalists 243 Moral Boundary Work and the Meaning of Activism 252 Conclusion 256 Conclusion 258 Appendix: Methodological Notes 263 Bibliography 271 Index 283"
Justin Farrell is assistant professor of sociology in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University.
Reviews for The Battle for Yellowstone: Morality and the Sacred Roots of Environmental Conflict
Winner of the 2016 Outstanding Published Book Award, Altruism, Morality and Social Solidarity Section of the American Sociological Association One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2015 The most original political book of early 2015 is not formally about politics at all. Instead The Battle for Yellowstone by Justin Farrell, a young scholar at Yale University, ponders venomous rows that have shaken Yellowstone National Park in recent decades, and why they are so intractable. --Economist In a refreshingly honest and balanced treatment, Farrell (sociology, Yale Univ.) addresses the spiritual elephant in the environmental room: the most perplexing environmental questions, the answers to which 'are only possible and made meaningful in the context of larger moral orders and spiritual narratives that shared human cultures are built upon.' With great insight and careful analysis, he examines the various reasons deep moral and spiritual meanings are often ignored, muted, and misunderstood. His scholarly diagnosis is well documented and thoroughly researched. --Choice Written in a highly accessiblemanner and will be of interest to many, including environmental sociologists, sociologists of culture and cognition, and sociologists of religion... This book offers a rich analysis of the irascible conflicts over the human/nature relationship in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the moral and cultural embeddedness of scientific and economic discourse. --Rebecca R. Scott, American Journal of Sociology The book rests on awe-inspiring research... A deeply informed and balanced discussion emerges... An engaging narrative and insightful, provocative analysis. The book deserves and will reward a wide audience, but those interested in environmental, western, and twentieth-century U.S. topics will find it particularly useful. --Todd M. Kerstetter, Journal of American History
- Commended for Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 2015
- Commended for Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 2015.
- Short-listed for Choice 's Outstanding Academic Titles for the Year 2015
- Winner of Outstanding Published Book Award, Altruism, Morality and Social Solidarity Section of the American Sociological Association 2016
