Green Glossary: Dismantle

Sure, we know this term by its standard definition:, e.g. "to take apart." However a variation on that standard definition—"to put an end to in a gradual systematic way"—gets closer to how "dismantle" is often used in a radical green sense: dismantle civilization.

Why such a goal? Some persuasively posit that civilization is anti-nature because constant growth requires resources, forests, fuel, food, minerals, etc. Civilization "conveniently views humans as being above nature, its only perceived value as resources to plunder & pillage. Civilized people, cut off from nature and the landbase that supports them, do not perceive themselves as part of the natural world, and in fact often fear it."

What does it mean to dismantle civilization? In the words of activist, small farmer, teacher, and philosopher Derrick Jensen, it means: "Depriving the rich of the ability to steal from the poor and to destroy the world."

Endgame Jensen's influential, two-volume book, published in 2006, "argues that civilization is inherently unsustainable and addresses the resulting question of what to do about it." In Endgame, Jensen offers twenty premises upon which he bases his arguments, for example:

-Premise Eighteen: Our current sense of self is no more sustainable than our current use of energy or technology.

-Premise Nineteen: The culture's problem lies above all in the belief that controlling and abusing the natural world is justifiable.