Learning in Times of Crisis： Rural Grassroots Movement in Mexico

This paper discusses transformative learning in relation to environmental crisis in rural communities in Guanajuato （Mexico）. Environmental pollution and resource depletion have triggered reflection and perspective transformation across groups of rural communities. The study is qualitative and results are based on lengthy interviews, within a well-known context for the researcher. This article is the reflection on how transformative learning took place looking fol; lessons to be learnt for communities facing environmental challenges.

Visible light-driven photo remediation of hazardous cationic dye via Ce-doped WO_(3) nanostructures

Ce-doped WO_(3) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by the sol-gel method and characterized through advanced characterization techniques.The high resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM)and scanning electron microscopy(SEM)results show a reduction in the agglomeration of nanoparticles upon doping.The energy dispersive X-ray(EDX)analysis validates the existence of the Ce element in all the doped samples.X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)and Raman spectra justify the presence of structural defects(oxygen vacancies)and successful formation of the monoclinic WO_(3) phase,respectively.The Kubelka-Munk function indicates a decrease in band gap with doping,while photoluminescence(PL)spectra show intense visible and UV emissions,Significantly,all doped samples exhibit higher photocatalytic performance than pure WO_(3) nanoparticles,with the 6 wt%Ce-doped sample displaying the highest degradation rate.Doping with Ce can help to increase the surface area of WO_(3),thereby improving its photoactivity,Moreover,a correlation between PL and photocatalysis is established in the light of oxygen vacancies suggesting a direct dependence of high photocatalytic activity on strong PL signals of WO_(3) nanostructures.Trapping experiments further reveal that the degradation process is primarily driven by active species,providing insight into a plausible photocatalytic mechanism.

Environmental Ethics and Linkola＇s Ecofascism： An Ethics Beyond Humanism

Ecofascism as a tradition in Environmental Ethics seems to burgeoning with potential. The roots of Ecofascism can be traced back to the German Romantic School, to the Wagnerian narration of the Nibelungen saga, to the works of Fichte and Herder and, finally, to the so-called volkisch movement. Those who take pride in describing themselves as ecofascists grosso modo tend to prioritize the moral value of the ecosphere, while, at the same time, they almost entirely devalue species and individuals. Additionally, these ecofascists are eager to reject democracy, the idea of progress in its entirety, as well as industrialization and urbanization. They also seem to be hostile towards individual autonomy and free will. In this short essay I will present and discuss Kaarlo Pentti Linkola＇s approach to environmental ethics, one that could be well described as the epitome of Ecofascism. I will argue that his arguments are neither sound nor documented, and I will conclude that Linkola＇s overall approach is, in my view, contrary to the purpose as well as to the very essence of morality.

Hybrid Hierophanies:Where Rastafari Meets Religious Ecology in Kei Miller’s The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion

Ecocriticism is a comparatively new and vital discipline that responds to the literatures of an increasingly urgent environmental crisis.Yet,while its remit within materialist and secular thought is diversifying to include postcolonial,cultural,and queer theories,alongside geography and other earth sciences,there is less conversation with complementary and syncretic disciplines such as ecotheology and religious ecology.This paper seeks to diversify the secular as a singular epistemological paradigm.It suggests the“sacred hybrid”as a transdisciplinary framework through which to read,critique,and write contemporary ecological poetry that connects to emotional and spiritual procedures and content as well as intellectually-driven aesthetics.Kei Miller’s The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion demonstrates the critical amplifications that the sacred hybrid can elicit.It suggests a sacred yet asymmetric“center,”with the capacity to incorporate diverse notions of Otherness.These expressions include spiritual modalities constructed via strategies of juxtaposition,shamanic chant,and interbiotic utterance that correspond to pre-Christian and syncretic indigenous religiosity.This reading uncovers how the poems resituate the terms and conditions under which cultural epistemologies are formed.In this instance,Rastafarian“reasoning”as a literary tactic maps onto third and fourth wave ecocriticism in its reconstitution of national,gender-based,and social identities.Viewed through a decolonized lens,and by extension a conduit for spiritual and political merger and coherence,poetry’s potential as an agent of societal healing and knowledge production may be revealed.