8
Subtle Agroecologies
For the left hemisphere, according to McGilchrist, belief, or the absence of certainty, is seen as
a ‘feeble form of knowing’, whereas for the right, belief is a matter of care or of relationship. In
other words, the right believes that one cannot know, whilst the left knows that one cannot believe.
He concurs with Baring that ‘The sheer vehemence with which the right hemisphere has been
dismissed by the representatives of the articulate left hemisphere, despite its overwhelming signifcance, suggests a possible rivalry’ (2019: 129).
To move through this impasse, both authors prescribe new conceptual paradigms. Baring weaves
recent developments in consciousness studies with quantum physics and the Vedic philosophies,
resulting in a new cosmology that unifes life, consciousness and the cosmos (2020: 340, 350).
Similarly, McGilchrist suggests seeing life not as a linear process with piecemeal strategies (the left
view) but as holistic, circular systems (the right), and draws from other cultures’ cyclical perspectives of history and the universe. Pointing towards East Asian cultures that continue to be grounded
in the right hemisphere, he concludes, ‘We might have to revise the superior assumption that we
understand the world better than our ancestors, and adopt a more realistic view that we just see it
differently – and may indeed be seeing less than they did’ (2019: 461).
This bihemispheric imbalance of the Western mind, and its correspondent secular-materialist
worldview, is of course a generalised stereotype. Baring is careful to note that patriarchy and its
associated disconnect from nature were present in some regions of the world prior to their being
colonised, and the West itself contains a plurality of worldviews. However, there is certainly a case
for the secular-materialist worldview and its science having shaped the West’s approach to agriculture. Seeing the industrial worldview as a form of mind-virus or disorder is helpful in that, if the
diagnosis is even half true, we are more consciously enabled to take effective, restorative action at
a systemic level, a kind of self-medication. For once, the mind may bring awareness to itself rather
than continue along the well-trodden path of identifying the problem as being outside of itself,
whether externalised as corporate control or climate change.
THE BLIND SPOT OF CONTEMPORARY, ECOLOGICALLY
BASED FARMING SYSTEMS
This chapter commenced by calling to attention the strong opposition to sustainable, ecologically
based agriculture by the mainstream, industrialised farming sector. In one sense, there is a clear
parallel between the reductionist, nature-disconnected left hemisphere and the industrial worldview, and the holistic, right hemisphere with the systems-thinking, ecological worldview. Various
authors contrast the industrial farming approach of yield maximisation, use of chemical inputs, and
ecosystem suppression and control, with the ecological approach of yield optimisation, crop diversifcation and the synergistic integration of natural processes (e.g. IPES-Food, 2016; van der Ploeg
et al., 2019; Röling and Jiggins, 1998).
An analysis of fundamental texts of the organic, permaculture, biodynamic and agroecology movements reveals the kind of cyclical approach (to production systems) suggested by McGilchrist as a means
to regain balance. For the organic farming movement, one of its most important principles is the ‘Law
of Return’ or the recycling of all organic wastes, advocated by pioneer Albert Howard (1943); permaculture’s focus on mimicking the cyclical events and patterns in nature runs throughout its curriculum
(Mollison and Slay, 2013); and similarly for biodynamic farming, cycles and rhythms are ever present,
from growing cycles to cosmic cycles (Steiner, 1993). Yet as well as considering the cycles of life, the
fundamental shift urged by both McGilchrist and Baring should also involve a revival of indigenous
cosmologies and ontologies including around the nature of consciousness and spirit. To understand what
this means in relation to farming, a closer look is taken at such indigenous perspectives.
HARMONY AND BALANCE: THE INDIGENOUS RELATIONSHIP OF PEOPLE, LAND AND NATURE
Indigenous worldviews from whichever continent place a higher value on spiritual and nonmaterial factors than do contemporary Western cultures (Kohler et al., 2019; Pierotti, 2011),
Subtle Agroecologies
For the left hemisphere, according to McGilchrist, belief, or the absence of certainty, is seen as
a ‘feeble form of knowing’, whereas for the right, belief is a matter of care or of relationship. In
other words, the right believes that one cannot know, whilst the left knows that one cannot believe.
He concurs with Baring that ‘The sheer vehemence with which the right hemisphere has been
dismissed by the representatives of the articulate left hemisphere, despite its overwhelming signifcance, suggests a possible rivalry’ (2019: 129).
To move through this impasse, both authors prescribe new conceptual paradigms. Baring weaves
recent developments in consciousness studies with quantum physics and the Vedic philosophies,
resulting in a new cosmology that unifes life, consciousness and the cosmos (2020: 340, 350).
Similarly, McGilchrist suggests seeing life not as a linear process with piecemeal strategies (the left
view) but as holistic, circular systems (the right), and draws from other cultures’ cyclical perspectives of history and the universe. Pointing towards East Asian cultures that continue to be grounded
in the right hemisphere, he concludes, ‘We might have to revise the superior assumption that we
understand the world better than our ancestors, and adopt a more realistic view that we just see it
differently – and may indeed be seeing less than they did’ (2019: 461).
This bihemispheric imbalance of the Western mind, and its correspondent secular-materialist
worldview, is of course a generalised stereotype. Baring is careful to note that patriarchy and its
associated disconnect from nature were present in some regions of the world prior to their being
colonised, and the West itself contains a plurality of worldviews. However, there is certainly a case
for the secular-materialist worldview and its science having shaped the West’s approach to agriculture. Seeing the industrial worldview as a form of mind-virus or disorder is helpful in that, if the
diagnosis is even half true, we are more consciously enabled to take effective, restorative action at
a systemic level, a kind of self-medication. For once, the mind may bring awareness to itself rather
than continue along the well-trodden path of identifying the problem as being outside of itself,
whether externalised as corporate control or climate change.
THE BLIND SPOT OF CONTEMPORARY, ECOLOGICALLY
BASED FARMING SYSTEMS
This chapter commenced by calling to attention the strong opposition to sustainable, ecologically
based agriculture by the mainstream, industrialised farming sector. In one sense, there is a clear
parallel between the reductionist, nature-disconnected left hemisphere and the industrial worldview, and the holistic, right hemisphere with the systems-thinking, ecological worldview. Various
authors contrast the industrial farming approach of yield maximisation, use of chemical inputs, and
ecosystem suppression and control, with the ecological approach of yield optimisation, crop diversifcation and the synergistic integration of natural processes (e.g. IPES-Food, 2016; van der Ploeg
et al., 2019; Röling and Jiggins, 1998).
An analysis of fundamental texts of the organic, permaculture, biodynamic and agroecology movements reveals the kind of cyclical approach (to production systems) suggested by McGilchrist as a means
to regain balance. For the organic farming movement, one of its most important principles is the ‘Law
of Return’ or the recycling of all organic wastes, advocated by pioneer Albert Howard (1943); permaculture’s focus on mimicking the cyclical events and patterns in nature runs throughout its curriculum
(Mollison and Slay, 2013); and similarly for biodynamic farming, cycles and rhythms are ever present,
from growing cycles to cosmic cycles (Steiner, 1993). Yet as well as considering the cycles of life, the
fundamental shift urged by both McGilchrist and Baring should also involve a revival of indigenous
cosmologies and ontologies including around the nature of consciousness and spirit. To understand what
this means in relation to farming, a closer look is taken at such indigenous perspectives.
HARMONY AND BALANCE: THE INDIGENOUS RELATIONSHIP OF PEOPLE, LAND AND NATURE
Indigenous worldviews from whichever continent place a higher value on spiritual and nonmaterial factors than do contemporary Western cultures (Kohler et al., 2019; Pierotti, 2011),