Working Title: Pope Francis Explains Pragmatism to the World: Integral Ecology,

Pragmatism and the Work of Communication

Submitted to: The Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) Bridging Gaps Conference

Submitted by:
Prof. Carl Bybee
Director, Oregon Media Literacy Project
School of Journalism and Communication
200 Allen Hall
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon 97403
bybee@uoregon.edu / 541-346-4175

The Pope in writing his green encyclical, Laudato Si, has called on us, media scholars and
communication practitioners, to see ourselves at the epicenter of a great new endeavor.1 I don't
mean he addressed us by our names or fields. Rather he laid out a stunning conceptualization of
the work that needs to be done in bringing to awareness the living and interdependent quality of
our relationships to each other, to our tools and technologies, to our idea of knowledge and
inquiry and to the interpenetration of our lives with our fragile planet.

To this end the Pope calls for the embrace and enaction of what he calls an "integral ecology."
An ecology that attends to the "relationship between living organisms and the environment in
which they develop." A recognition of nature that "cannot be regarded as something separate
from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live….we are part of nature, included in it and
thus in constant interaction with it." An "economic ecology" which moves beyond reductionist
notions of standardizations and narrowly conceived economic efficiencies, to "a broader vision
of reality," which sees the "the protection of the environment is in fact 'an integral part of the
development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it.'"

An "integral ecology" that, for instance, recognizes "the reasons why a given area is polluted
requires a study of the workings of society, its economy, its behaviour patterns, and the ways it
grasps reality."

And an "integral ecology" that calls for a new understanding of the act of inquiry itself. The
Pope writes, "it is no longer possible to find a specific, discrete answer for each part of the
problem. It is essential to seek comprehensive solutions which consider the interactions within
natural systems themselves and with social systems." And he warns " that the fragmentation of

1
“Laudato Si’ (24 May 2015) | Francis.” Accessed November 24, 2015.
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-
si.html.
 knowledge and the isolation of bits of information can actually become a form of ignorance,
unless they are integrated into a broader vision of reality. "

The Pope lays out what he calls "Lines of Approach and Action," and implicitly alludes to how
we might develop a new awareness of how we live in deep relationship to each other and to the
planet and the moral responsibility commensurate with that awareness. I would like to suggest
in this presentation, that the work of the Pope as a world figure, has helped make it possible to
comprehend and enact an understanding of our place in the world which resonates with the
revolutionary theory of the American Pragmatists, and particularly John Dewey. At the same
time, I will outline how the principle of integral ecology might benefit from a deeper encounter
with Pragmatism to offer up specific guidance for re-understanding the meaning and work of
communication that could contribute to further the enaction of "integral ecology."

Dewey calls for "a kind of knowledge which does not yet exist" to re-awaken modern publics to
their heightened interconnection and interdependence with each other and the living world in a
complex, industrial, global society.2 In this call, he is involved in mapping out how the work of
communication as the work of holding together and nurturing community life, needs to intersect
with building a kind of social knowledge which makes possible self-aware communities and
societies--- self-aware of their mutual connections and dependencies with each other and to the
living world--- committed to practices, personal and tool-enhanced, that enrich community,
human and non-human, and the lives of individuals as members of those communities.

In yet another strange twist of our modern times, we see the Pope, the leader of a seeming
ancient and anachronistic institution, articulating a compelling vision for a surprisingly more
humane and dramatically less anthropocentric, perhaps catholic---in the sense of all embracing,
modern future.

As the Pope writes, "we are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other
social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for
a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the
excluded, and at the same time protecting nature." Exploring how the work of communication
can be part the solution rather than part of the problem, in carrying forward that project seems
like a good idea.

2
John Dewey  : The Later Works, 1925-1953. Vol. 2, 1925-1927 [The Public and Its Problems]. Carbondale:
Southern Illinois University Press, 1984.