Social Cohesion - A Jain Perspective: [3.6] The Environment

One of the chief problems of our society in its present phase is that we compartmentalise areas of policy. We assume that they can be ‘dealt with’ or ‘tackled’ separately and as distinctive ‘issues’, because there is little connection between them. We assume, for instance, that there is no connection between aggression on the international stage and anti-social behaviour closer to home. We pretend that we develop ‘green’ consciousness and conserve the environment, without questioning basic assumptions about our patterns of consumption, our priorities and our goals.

Recent developments in the physical and biological sciences point towards connections, hidden and overt, between all aspects of life on earth. For millennia, Jainism has emphasised that no man or woman is an island, and nor is there - as we have for too long imagined in the west - a radical separation between humanity and other forms of life. Thus the most ancient and the most modern insights converge in spirituality and science, but economics and politics lag far behind. We therefore need to look at policy formation in a different way - to make connections between issues rather than separating them out.

Nowhere is the need for joined-up policy making more apparent than in the areas of environment and social cohesion. Every aspect of these two ‘issues’ overlaps, intersects or shades into each other. Social and environmental breakdown have the same underlying cause, a human arrogance that assumes a ‘right’ to limitless consumption of the earth’s resources.

As a species, the delusion of entitlement to more and more is threatening to destroy the planetary equilibrium: the climate, the global ecosystem and everything that makes life on earth worthwhile or even possible. As a society, meanwhile, we are becoming dislocated by the illusion of limitless consumption. This leads to the idea that each of us has the ‘right’ to a greater share of the earth’s resources, regardless of the ecological and social cost, and that by extension other people are commodities to be thrown away or traded in as obsolete.

The Jain principle of Aparigraha (non-possessiveness and non-attachment) emphasises material restraint and respect for nature - a society that meets the needs of all, rather than a scramble to satisfy the demands of some. Aparigraha also extends the idea of social conscience to our relationship with the planet and all its inhabitants. A secular version of this Jain approach needs to be translated into all areas of public policy, if we are to address environmental concerns that threaten all of life, including human survival.

 At present, campaigns against climate change are mere fiddling while Rome burns because they do not question our uncritical attachment to economic growth, as an end in itself and often at the expense of the real quality of human life, along with the species and ecosystems that are needlessly invaded or destroyed. For ecological healing to take place, we need to accept the connection between untrammelled economic expansion, environmental degradation and social injustice, as humans and other species are exploited to satisfy irrational demand. This is one of the reasons why Jains have been pioneers of animal welfare, both in the West and India, where the Jain animal sanctuaries of Ahmedabad, Gujarat are world-renowned. As well as being a social good in itself, this commitment reminds us to respect and value the natural world, rather than exploiting it, and to identify with something larger than ourselves.

Environmental activities can also help promote diversity and inclusion. The work of the Black Environment Network, for example, has shown that gardening and allotments in inner city areas enables people to reach across ethnic and cultural divisions and overcome prejudice. These activities also alleviate the stress created by social iniquity and the unnatural conditions of much of urban life. Being surrounded by life rather than inanimate objects has a calming effect on individuals and communities. It promotes a more positive outlook and reduces violence and self-harm. Provision of green spaces and the protection of trees and woodlands are as important for community cohesion as tackling poverty or reducing benefit dependency. Environmental education is a crucial ingredient of social education

Ecological consciousness and reconnection with nature should therefore be built into all aspects of economic and social policy, including architecture and planning, health care and education. A new Department for the Environment and Community Cohesion should be created, a pioneering step which recognises that social and ecological cohesion are one and the same.

• Creation of new Department for the Environment and Community Cohesion;
• Phase out factory farming and animal experiments;
• Encourage environmental volunteering and outdoor pursuits;
• Integrate ecological considerations into all aspects of economic and social policy;
• Shift of priorities from economic growth to quality of life;