Ecozoic
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Coined by clergyman and scholar Thomas Berry in the early 1980s,[1] from eco- + -zoic; compare Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic.
Adjective[edit]
Ecozoic (not comparable)
- (geology) Of or pertaining to the hypothesised Ecozoic era.
- 1997, Thomas Berry, “The Ecozoic Era”, in Glenn Adelson et al., editors, Environment: An Interdisciplinary Anthology[1], Yale University Press, published 2008, page 360:
- The Ecozoic Era can be brought into being only by the integral life community itself. If other periods have been designated by such names as "Reptilian" or "Mammalian," this Ecozoic period must be identified as the Era of the Integral Life Community.
Proper noun[edit]
Ecozoic
- A geologic era, beginning in the late twentieth century, in which humans would be guided by ecological concerns and would behave in a less exploitative way toward the environment.
- 2019, Ivan Vargas Roncancio et al., “From the Anthropocene to Mutual Thriving: An Agenda for Higher Education in the Ecozoic”, in Sustainability, volume 11, number 12, , pages 2–3:
- Here we argue that the Ecozoic requires new approaches and new textbooks to tell a different story that more accurately reflects both new and old understandings of interconnectedness; engages with conceptualizations of the human and of being; reaffirms and celebrates other ways of knowing; and emphasizes our embeddedness in nature while building greater respect for the species alongside which we have co-evolved over the vast space of evolutionary time.
Usage notes[edit]
The term has not been adopted in the official geological nomenclature. Used as an alternative to "Anthropocene".[2]
References[edit]
- ^ “The Ecozoic Era”, in Thomas Berry and the Great Work, (Can we date this quote?)
- ^ Crist, Eileen (2013) “On the Poverty of Our Nomenclature”, in Environmental Humanities, volume 3, number 1, , pages 142–3:
- The Anthropocene? Such is the poverty of our nomenclature to bow once more before the tedious showcasing of Man. ... If a new name were called for, then why not have a conversation or a debate about what it should be, instead of being foisted (for a very long time, I might add) with the Age of Man as the “obvious” choice? ... Indeed, why not choose a name whose higher calling we must rise to meet? We might, for example, opt for ecotheologian Thomas Berry’s proposed “Ecozoic,” which embraces Earth’s integral living community, and invites human history in concert with natural history into uncharted realms of beauty, diversity, abundance, and freedom.