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THE WRONG AMAZON IS BURNING
While the Amazon rainforest burns, it is not mere- ly the forest that is being scorched,but the fun- damental values of a social order that prioritises profit over preservation, and short-term gain over the long-term survival of humanity. As a society, by focusing on the fire itself, we risk missing the broader inferno- the social, political and econom- ic structures that have allowed the climate crisis in the first place. The prevailing social order mis- aligns global priorities with an industrialised dom- inant social paradigm (DSP), caring too deeply for consumption-driven economic and individual gain over a sustainable human-nature relationship. 33
Human activity has increasingly had an effect on the global envi- ronment. When a prominent shift occurs in human behaviour, it is only proportionate that our ecosystem is equally affected. These shifts are marked by time, and these periods of time are divided by geologists to mark significant changes in the earth's state. Recent environmental changes suggest that we have entered a new human-dominated geological epoch, and it was proposed that this shift should be marked as the Anthropocene. The idea of the Anthropocene "highlights social concerns, particularly the unequal power relationships between different groups of people, economic growth, the impacts of globalized trade, and our cur- rent reliance on fossil fuels" (Lewis 180). The Anthropocene chal- lenges long-held assumptions about our human-nature relation- ship, highlighting the increasingly active role that we as a species play in the climate crisis.
Bogert theorises that the effect that our current industrialised DSP has on our human-nature relationship ranges from what is considered to be ecocentric to anthropocentric. They have "identifie[d] twelve types of human-nature relationships from the existing literature", highlighting the profound effect that litera- ture has had on developing and evolving our perspectives when considering our coexistence with our planet (Bogert 15). These categories of human-nature relationships begin with 'holistic', 'connectedness' and 'participation, which are considered to be ecocentric and show humans and nature as an interconnected system focused on interdependence and sustainability. This then shifts to the equality of humans and nature segment, where we see 'partnership', 'ritualised exchange, 'devotion' and 'wardship, which sees nature and society as separate entities while nature is still preserved. Finally, we see a shift to the constructivist