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Type of Document Thesis Author Eller, Mara Kaitlin Author's Email Address mara.eller@gmail.com URN etd-08142009-190417 Title The Last Eden: the Development of a Regional Culture of Eco-Spirituality in the Pacific Northwest Degree Master of Arts Department American and Florida Studies, Program in Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title Amanda Porterfield Committee Chair John Corrigan Committee Member Neil Jumonville Committee Member Keywords
- 1980s
- Environmentalism
- Shibley
- New Age
- Environment
- Nature
- Spirituality
- Religion
- Region
- Washington
- Oregon
- Pacific Northwest
Date of Defense 2009-08-11 Availability unrestricted Abstract The culture of the Pacific Northwest is formed by and around its natural environment. Cultural descriptions of the region usually highlight its spectacular scenery, its rich natural resources, and the connection that many residents feel with the land. Often, this connection takes on a spiritual quality, prompting some to identify a culture of nature religion in the region: a culture in which participants consider the natural world sacred, ordering their lives around its protection and conceptualizing their own welfare as inextricably tied to that of the environment. This thesis attempts to chronicle the development of such a culture of eco-spirituality from European exploration to present, locating today’s reality firmly in a historical context. I argue that the region’s history as a last frontier, dependence on natural resource extraction, and relative lack of institutional religious presence paved the way for a fusion of environmentalist activism and New Age spirituality in the 1980s. As spiritual concern infused environmentalism with ideological power, political battles intensified, publicity increased, and a new culture of eco-spirituality emerged to stamp itself indelibly on the face of the Pacific Northwest.Files
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