코즈모폴리턴 ‘생물지역주의’

Cosmopolitan ‘Bioregionalism’ in the Case of Gary Snyder

This paper aims to look for a possibility of contradictory combination of region-centered bioregionalism and cosmopolitanism in Gary Snyder’s ecology through Immanuel Kant and Jacques Derrida. Snyder’s worries about regionalism implicit in bioregionalism urge him to introduce cosmopolitanism. Snyder proposes to keep a balance between cosmopolitanism and bioregionalism. In his essay on cosmopolitanism, Kant presents the idea of ‘a common right to the surface of the earth.’ The earth is a common land to all. All are ‘natives’ to the earth. According to Jacques Derrida’s interpretation of Kantian cosmo- politanism, Kant acknowledges the common right to the surface of the earth but Kant would like to reserve an exclusive right for what is ‘erected’ or ‘constructed’ on the surface of the earth. But Derrida says that when an exclusive right is secured, an ‘initial violence’ is done to the common right to the surface of the earth. Derrida argues that any ‘habitat’ is just an ‘illegally’ and ‘violently’ ‘constructed’ one that interferes with ‘the common right to the surface of the earth.’ All ‘habitats’ are ‘illegals.’ Any regionalism or even bioregionalism is one of ‘illegals’ in the light of the cosmopolitan right to the surface of the earth. With Kantian idea of cosmopolitanism and Derrida’s interpretation of Kantian cosmopolitanism, this paper shows that Snyder’s bioregionalism can be acceptable only if it is based on cosmopolitanism since even bioregions can be thought to be ‘constructed’ or ‘erected’ on ‘the surface of the earth’ that ‘originally’ belongs to all on the earth without any discrimination, animals, humans, plants, mountains, predators, enemies, etc. Any ‘re-inhabitation’ in land and ‘becoming natives’ to land which Snyder suggests in his ecological projects should begin with the idea of ‘pure land’ on which nothing has been ‘constructed,’ like ‘the surface of the earth.’ The common right to the surface of the earth should be given priority to. After this right is guaranteed, an ecological community can be ‘constructed’ or ‘erected’ on the surface of the earth regionally and temporarily, and only then, cosmopolitan bioregionalism can be put into practice.