Embedded Files
Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives
Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives
Helpful prior learning:
Section 1.1.1 The economy and you, which explains what an economy is and how it is relevant to students’ lives
Section 1.1.2 The embedded economy, which explains the relationship between the economy and society and Earth’s systems
Section 1.1.3 Degenerative economies, which explain the problems for people and planet with the way our current economies operate.
Section 1.2.1 Human-nature relationship, which explains the need to return to a worldview that sees humans as part of nature rather than separate from it
Section 1.4.1 Biomimicry for economic design, which explains how Nature’s Unifying Patterns provide principles for regenerative economic design
Section 4.1.1 The commons as a system, which explains the parts, relationships, and functions of the commons and the relationship between the commons and other provisioning institutions
Section 4.1.5 The role of care in commoning, which explains the role of care in commoning and describes practices that enhance care in commoning, and the wider economy
Section 4.2.1 Eco-stewardship of nature, which explains how eco-stewardship of nature can protect and regenerate Earth’s life-support systems, particularly in the context of subsistence commons
Section S.1 What are systems?, which explains what a system is, the importance of systems boundaries, the difference between open and closed systems and the importance of systems thinking
Section S.2 Systems thinking patterns, which outlines the core components of systems thinking: distinctions (thing/other), systems (part/whole), relationships (action/reaction), and perspectives (point/view)
Section S.5 Causal loops, feedback and tipping points, which explains the feedback loops that can stabilise or destabilise systems.
Learning objectives:
discuss how human-nature dualism threatens commoning
The Kichwa people live in the Sarayaku territory of Ecuador’s Pastaza Province (Figure 1). They rely on the Amazon Rainforest not just for resources like food and medicine, but for their entire way of life. For them, the land is alive—animals, plants, rivers, and mountains have distinctive personalities. The landscape is a source of stories, spiritual connections, and shared responsibility.
In the early 2000s, the Ecuadorian state sold oil exploration rights in the area where the Kichwa people live without consulting them, inviting companies to drill on their ancestral lands. To the government and oil companies, the rainforest was just a reservoir of oil deposits waiting to be removed.
The Kichwa appealed to human rights courts and eventually succeeded in protecting their land from oil drilling. But the Kichwa weren’t just fighting for their territory. They were challenging a worldview that sees humans as separate and superior to the rest of nature, and entitled to control it. This worldview is often called human-nature dualism.
Figure 1. The Kichwa people live in the Amazon Rainforest, in the eastern part of Ecuador
(Credit: Google Maps)
How does human-nature dualism threaten commoning?
How does human-nature dualism threaten commoning?
Human-nature dualism is a worldview with deep roots in European philosophy and history, and is the foundation of modern capitalist economies (Section 3.2.1).
Human-nature dualism negatively impacts all three elements of a commons: the resources, the communities’ relationships, and the ability of the communities to set rules for their relationships.
Figure 2. Commons consist of three elements: the resource, the community, and the rules, all of which are threatened by human-nature dualism
(Credit: Heinrich Böll Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Human-nature dualism damages resources
A human-nature dualistic worldview sees forests, rivers, soil, oceans and the rest of nature as existing only for human use, not as shared life-support systems with their own intrinsic value. The dualistic mindset encourages relationships based on exploitation rather than care (Section 4.1.4).
For example, large-scale commercial farming often uses practices that treat soil as a lifeless tool for short-term maximisation of crop yields for profit (Figure 4). Farmers plant the same crops repeatedly (monoculture) and rely heavily on chemical fertilisers and pesticides. This approach depletes soil nutrients, reduces soil’s ability to hold water, and harms beneficial living organisms, leading to erosion and lower soil fertility. Pesticides also harm pollinators and other wildlife, reducing biodiversity.
Figure 3. Human-nature dualism damages resources
(Credit: modified from Heinrich Böll Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Figure 4. Large-scale industrial farming degrades soil and biodiversity
(Credit: Tom Fisk, Pexels licence)
In contrast, commoners who correctly understand that soil is alive and interconnected with other living organisms treat soil differently. They rotate and plant diverse crops, plant cover crops, and use organic fertilisers to nourish the soil, mimicking Earth system processes. They care for soil as a shared element that sustains life. This perspective of interdependence helps protect ecosystems over time.
Human-nature dualism weakens social relationships
Human-nature dualism doesn’t just separate people from the rest of nature —it can also disrupt social connections within communities. When nature is seen as a resource separate and apart from human life, there seems to be no reason not to exploit it for profit. This leads to seeing other people as rivals for access and control over these limited resources, rather than as partners in managing them responsibly.
Figure 5. Human-nature dualism weakens social relationships
(Credit: modified from Heinrich Böll Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Water management is an example. For centuries, communities in the arid state of Rajasthan, India cooperatively maintained rainwater harvesting systems, such as johads, small reservoirs that collect and store precious rainwater (Figure 6). This collective effort relies on shared responsibilities and trust, strengthening bonds within the community.
However, the Indian state has more recently created large-scale dams and centralised water distribution systems. Water is more and more controlled by distant state authorities who do not have the social commitments and place-based local knowledge of commoners. As this local knowledge is lost and people no longer practice the skills and mindsets to collectively manage shared resources, they are more likely to view each other as competitors for limited resources held outside the community. Thus, while these centralised water systems may sometimes be more efficient, they are much less socially and ecologically resilient. The distributed physical water resources and the social practices and strong community bonds around water management are weakened with this centralised top-down approach.
Figure 6. In Rajasthan, India local communities have used johads to collectively manage water resources for centuries. These commons can be undermined by large-scale state control.
(Credit: Amar singh kangarot, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Human-nature dualism impacts rule-making that reinforces power
Human-nature dualism, by viewing nature as a collection of resources to be owned, often leads to centralisation of power in decision-making. When states and businesses see nature as separate from human society, they may impose policies and rules without considering the perspectives and needs of the people that have close direct relationships with the ecosystems.
Figure 7. Human-nature dualism impacts rule-making to reinforce power relationships
(Credit: modified from Heinrich Böll Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0)
The treatment of the Sengwer people in Kenya provide another example. For generations, they have sustainably managed the Embobut Forest through regulated harvesting and controlled burning in the forest which help regenerate ecological systems.
However, with a human-nature dualistic worldview, the Kenyan state sees forests merely as land to be conserved or protected, partly for the money that can be earned from carbon offsets. Carbon offsets are when people in distant places compensate for their own carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by preserving or increasing forests or other carbon storing ecological systems elsewhere in the world. The Kenyan state assumes that the Sengwer are a threat to the forests and the revenue they can earn from these carbon offsets, rather than a living part of the forest. The Kenyan state has worked to remove the Sengwer from their forest home, sometimes by force.
Figure 8. The Sengwer people in Kenya are being forcibly evicted from their lands due to conservation rules framed by a human-nature dualistic worldview
(Credit: © Poppy Kohner)
These rules, imposed from a central authority in response to international agreements and market pressures, ignore and override the commoning of indigenous communities who have a deep reciprocal relationship with the forest. The example shows how human-nature dualism can lead to policies and rules that reinforce existing inequalities by prioritising centralised state control and rules and market exploitation of natural systems.
Activity 4.3.1
Activity 4.3.1
Concept: Systems
Skills: Thinking skills (critical thinking)
Time: varies, depending on the option
Type: Individual, pairs and/or small group
Option 1 - Practice with causal loop diagrams
Time: 20-25 minutes (could be longer if students spend more time discussing how to break the feedback loop.
Note: This activity will be difficult for students unless they have an understanding of causal loops and feedback, explained in Section S.x (coming soon).
Human-nature dualism can easily become a self-reinforcing dynamic. As people learn to treat nature as an object separate from humanity and other living systems, human-nature dualism strengthens, held in place by reinforcing feedback loops.
Figure 9 shows these impacts with causal relationships, but the + and - symbols are missing.
Copy the diagram onto a piece of paper or into a digital document
Add + symbols to the arrows where you think there is a reinforcing relationship, as one variable increases the other increases, or as the variable decreases the other decreases.
Add - symbols to the arrows where you think there is an inverse relationship, as one variable increases, the other decreases or as the variable decreases the other increases.
Compare your ideas with a partner or a small group and discuss your reasoning. If you cannot work with another student, you could check your work with the sample provided (click the arrow).
What can we do to break this reinforcing feedback loop?
Figure 9. Causal loops associated with human-nature dualism and commoning - can you add the + and - symbols to show the relationships?
Click the arrow to reveal a sample answer
Option 2 - A conservation “fix that fails”?
Time: 15 minutes
The final part of this section, on how human-nature dualism impacts rule-making to reinforce power, described the situation with the Sengwer people of Kenya. The Kenyan state has forcibly removed the Sengwer from the forests where they have lived for centuries, justifying the action in order to conserve the forest, though the state may have had more than one motivation.
On your own, with a partner or a small group:
Consider how the human-nature worldview supports that idea that you have to remove humans from an area of nature that you want to protect.
Discuss why the strategy of removing the Sengwer might, in fact, fail to protect the forest.
Option 3: Exploring the Kichwa
Time: 40 minutes
The link below is a fascinating, interactive website with graphic and text information about Sarayaku and the Kichwa’s relationship to nature, oil exploration in the region, and the Kichwa’s fight to preserve their lands.
Sarayaku: in defense of territory
Take 20-25 minutes to explore the site, identifying 2-3 things you found interesting about the Kichwa, their relationship to the local ecosystem and the oil exploration case.
Share what you found with a partner or in a small group.
What insights about human-nature dualism does this case give you?
Ideas for longer activities and projects are listed in Subtopic 4.5 Taking action
Checking for understanding
Checking for understanding
Further exploration
Further exploration
Is it time to reassess our relationship with nature? - a short video from the BBC explaining human-nature dualism and why it’s so important to view ourselves as part of nature, not separate from it. Difficulty level: easy
The living forest: the Amazonian tribespeople who sailed down the Seine - a ca. 10 minute video about the Kichwa’s fight against oil exploration on their lands and their efforts to raise awareness of the importance of protecting indigenous communities and the web of life. Difficulty level: easy
Sarayaku: in defense of territory - a fascinating, interactive website with graphic and text information about Sarayaku and the Kichwa’s relationship to nature, oil exploration in the region, and the Kichwa’s fight to preserve their lands. Difficulty level: easy
‘We can’t hunt or fish’: the villages in Ecuador’s Amazon surrounded by abandoned explosives - an article from The Guardian describing the continued fight of the Kichwa to get the Ecuadorian government to remove explosives from their land, placed there to explore for oil in the early 2000s. Difficulty level: easy
Johads - a ca. 20 minute video from The Flow Partnership, about how johads are built in Rajasthan, India. Difficulty level: easy
Under Threat: The Sengwer Minority - a ca. 5 minute video about the Kenyan state’s forced eviction of the Sengwer people in Kenya. Difficulty level: easy
The Story That Shapes Your Relationship with Nature - a TED Talk with Damon Gameau explaining how human-nature dualism shapes ecologically destructive human behaviour and how viewing ourselves as interconnected with nature can lead to more regenerative behaviour. Difficulty level: easy
Sources
Sources
Amazon Conservation Team. (n.d.). Sarayaku: Mapping an Indigenous world. https://www.amazonteam.org/maps/sarayaku-en/
Bhattacharya, P. (2015, March 23). “An ancient technology is helping India’s water man save thousands of parched villages”. Quartz. https://qz.com/india/367875/an-ancient-technology-is-helping-indias-water-man-save-thousands-of-parched-villages
Bollier, D. (2025). Think Like a Commoner: A Short introduction to the Life of the Commons, 2nd edition. https://www.thinklikeacommoner.com/
Chapter 5: Many Galaxies of Commons
Chapter 8: Local, Vernacular and Alive
Forest Peoples Programme. (2024). Rights-based conservation: Strengthening the rights to land and natural resources. Forest Peoples Programme. https://www.forestpeoples.org/en/lands-forests-territories-rights-based-conservation-rights-land-natural-resources/news-article/2024
Terminology (in order of appearance)
Terminology (in order of appearance)
Link to Quizlet interactive flashcards and terminology games for Section 4.3.1 Human-nature dualism
state: a system that provides essential public services, and also governs and regulates other economic institutions
worldview: an all-inclusive outlook on the world held by an individual or group, and through which they make sense of reality and gain knowledge
human-nature dualism: the worldview that human society is fundamentally separate from and superior to the rest of the living world
capitalist: a person who has capital invested in business with the aim to make a profit
economy: all the human-made systems that transfer and transform energy and matter to meet human needs and wants
intrinsic value: when something has value simply for what it is
exploit: using and benefiting from resources; the term is often used negatively to imply using power to take advantage of a situation
care: the act of providing what is necessary for the health, welfare, upkeep, and protection of someone or something
crop yield: the quantity of plants grown in a period of time
profit: total revenue minus total cost
monoculture: when a single crop is grown a given area
fertiliser: a chemical or natural substance added to soil or land to increase its fertility
pesticide: a chemical that kills pests
erosion: process where soil or rock is worn away by wind or water
pollinator: something, such as an insect, that carries pollen from one plant or part of a plant to another
biodiversity: the variety of living organisms on Earth
commoner: a person participating in a commons
cover crop: plants that are planted to cover the soil rather than for harvest; protects and enriches the soil
system: a set of interdependent parts that organise to create a functional whole
ecosystem: the interaction of groups of organisms with each other and their physical environment
rainwater harvesting: the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off
system: a set of interdependent parts that organise to create a functional whole
efficiency: the ratio of resource inputs compared to outputs
resilient: able to recover after a disturbance
power: the ability to influence events or the behaviour of other people
regenerate: the process of restoring and revitalising something
carbon offset: an entity that emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere paying for another entity to pollute less
carbon dioxide (CO2): gas produced by burning carbon or organic compounds and through respiration, naturally present in the atmosphere and absorbed by plants in photosynthesis
market: a system where people buy and sell goods and services for a price.
indigenous community: the original settlers of an area (pre-invasion/colonialism) who have retained their culture apart from colonisers
reciprocity: exchanging things and favours with others for mutual benefit
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