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Ecology

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions

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Definition

“Ecology,” in the sense used here, designates a range of understanding in which nature is perceived as virtuous, a locus of the good and the beautiful, the transcendent and the sacred, in this world. It has become the terrain for New Age spiritualities whose practices enable experiences of belonging to and reverence for nature. In this acceptation, ecology diverges from its original meaning as developed in the biological sciences. Via a series of semantic shifts, the notion was transferred from the biosciences to the social and human sciences over the course of the twentieth century, describing practices related to educating individual behaviors and stimulating ethical, aesthetic, and political awareness, forming ecologically oriented subjects in the process.

Introduction

The social practices and imaginative horizons named under the term “ecological” have been interpreted by diverse social groups and individuals as an existential, ethical, and aesthetic path toward a...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Postgraduate Program in Education, Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Desembargador Moreno Loureiro Lima 385 Ap 203, 90450-130, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Isabel Cristina de Moura Carvalho

Authors
  1. Isabel Cristina de Moura Carvalho
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Correspondence to Isabel Cristina de Moura Carvalho .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology/Anthropology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Henri P. P. Gooren

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Carvalho, I.C.d.M. (2015). Ecology. In: Gooren, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_20-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_20-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08956-0

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