If we want social justice, we have to do more than widen the existing lens
Like millions of other people, I was taught that trees compete with each other for nutrients and space and light. Rapid tree growth was a sign of success. The text book said that planting trees at some distance apart would maximise yields. The worth of a tree started when it became wood, or because it trapped carbon dioxide which benefited humans. Nowadays we can add forest bathing (shinrin yoku) — when explained only as self-care — to the list.
Imagine if we’d been taught that young trees shaded by older trees are more likely to thrive than young trees that have ‘too much’ light. This reframes competition to inter-connection. Imagine if we’d been told about the ‘wood wide web’ that trees use to keep their neighbours alive, by transferring sugars for instance. Now we’re in the realm of collaboration and the collective, competition and individualism are jettisoned. Imagine if we’d been introduced to the world through animist rather than materialist sensibilities.
Where white supremacy has not imposed the binary rupture of human dominion over non-human nature, humans relate to trees, and they to humans, in very different ways.
The metaphors and language we use to organise our thoughts have a profound influence on the values we enact. They limit or enable our…
