Rewilding (anarchism)

Rewilding means to return to a more wild or natural state; it is the process of undoing domestication.[1][2] The term emerged from green anarchism and anarcho-primitivism.[3] The central argument is that the majority of humans have been "civilized" or "domesticated" by agrarianism and sedentary social stratification. Such a process is compared to how dogs have been domesticated from what was a common ancestor with wolves, resulting in a loss in health and vibrancy. Supporters of rewilding argue that through the process of domestication, human wildness has been altered by force.[4]

For the rehabilitation process of animals and predators specifically, see Reintroduction. For the biological process, see Rewilding (conservation biology).

Rewilding encourages the conscious undoing of human domestication and returning to the lifeways of some indigenous human cultures. Though often associated with primitive skills and learning knowledge of wild plants and animals, it emphasizes regenerative land management techniques employed by hunter-gatherers and horticulturalists, as well as development of the senses and fostering deepening personal relationships with members of other species and the natural world.[5][6] Rewilding intends to create permanently wild human cultures beyond domestication.[3]

Rewilding is considered a holistic approach to living, as opposed to specific or separate skills, practices or knowledges.[7]

Theory

Rewilding is most associated with green anarchy and anarcho-primitivism or anti-civilization and post-civilization anarchism in general.[8]

Within a modern and scientific social context, rewilding entails both experiential and "book knowledge" to produce a community that is both respectful of individual liberties and beneficial to all involved, including all non-human species. Participants in such events and communities directly reap the benefits of the communities' actions and efforts. Instead of seeking to "return" to an earlier state of human existence or go "back to the land", rewilding seeks to take the experiences and time spent here in civilization and combine the lessons that have been learned from both the past and the present to create a more ideal society.

In culture

In 2015, the activist/musician Jadis Mercado released the album "Rewild Things"[9]

See also

• Pleistocene Rewilding
• Green Anarchist
• Hemeroby
• Species Traitor
• The World Without Us
• Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding.
• Wilding: the return of nature to a British farm (Picador 2018) by Isabella Tree

References

1. Scout, Urban (2008) Rewild or Die. Urban Scout LLC, Oregon. pg. 1. ISBN 978-0-578-03248-1
2. Olsen, Miles (2012) Unlearn, Rewild. New Society Publishing, British Columbia, CAN. pg. 10. ISBN 978-0-86571-721-3
3. "Rewilding" from Green Anarchist Infoshop
4. GA Collective & Coalition Against Civilization, "The Origins of Civilization Archived 2012-09-29 at the Wayback Machine"
5. Scout, Urban (2008) Rewild or Die. Urban Scout LLC, Oregon. ISBN 978-0-578-03248-1
6. Medrano, Finisia (2011) Growing Up in Occupied America. Lulu Press, Oregon. ISBN 978-1-257-17786-8
7. Scout, Urban (2008) Rewild or Die. Urban Scout LLC, Oregon. pg. 1. ISBN 978-0-578-03248-1
8. The GA & Wildroots Collectives, "A Primer for a Balanced Existence Amid the Ruins of Civilization Archived 2012-09-29 at the Wayback Machine"
9. ""Rewild Things" entry on Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved February 17, 2017.

External links

• rewild.com
• Rewild Portland
• Rewild University
• "A Primitivist Primer"
• Primitivism
• Re-Wilding
• Green Anarchy magazine
• The Rewilding Institute
• Stozenburg, William. Where the Wild Things Were. Conservation in Practice 7(1):28-34.
• How Human Rewilding Works