Peter F. Cannavò, assistant professor of government, presented a talk at the conference, "Does the Environment Have a Right?: Critical Perspectives on Environmentalism and the Left," at the University of Chicago on May 9. Cannavò's talk was titled "Civic Republicanism and the Ecological Challenges of a New Century." The conference was sponsored by the University's Program on the Global Environment.
He argued that in addressing the contemporary ecological crisis, Americans should reach beyond liberalism to rediscover the civic republican tradition. Cannavò asserted that civic republicanism's emphasis on virtue and engaged citizenship provides a political and philosophical foundation and rationale for the sorts of lifestyle changes, material sacrifices, and communitarian values that can move us toward a more sustainable society. Moreover, civic republican themes are still implicit in American politics and can provide publicly acceptable arguments for environmental policies, more effectively than can either rights-based liberalism or ecocentrism.
He argued that in addressing the contemporary ecological crisis, Americans should reach beyond liberalism to rediscover the civic republican tradition. Cannavò asserted that civic republicanism's emphasis on virtue and engaged citizenship provides a political and philosophical foundation and rationale for the sorts of lifestyle changes, material sacrifices, and communitarian values that can move us toward a more sustainable society. Moreover, civic republican themes are still implicit in American politics and can provide publicly acceptable arguments for environmental policies, more effectively than can either rights-based liberalism or ecocentrism.
