from meta.html, on 'stewardship'

Where did I write stuff about what is it to be a Steward? This is such a basic and vital question... back in Jan 2001 I collected a lot of Web references to the concept, and quite recently I wrote some things down... gotta find the paper... Some from Annie, to which I subsequently added another set, from books 2001-, with some curious senses of the term.

Perhaps this ought to be an empirical question for the very first exercise students do: what is the landscape of meanings of 'stewardship', and how do we situate ourselves, individually and collectively, in that landscape? Of course there are many ways to approach information-gathering and exposition of the answers to this basic question.

What is stewardship in a world where Americans are unwelcome and in danger? Should this possible reality suggest anything to us about the hubris of 'stewardship', or is it that we should be thinking of the stewards as humanity at large, and not we-as-Americans? Don't we have to include the American perspective and identity as part of the definition of stewardship?

If the program wasn't called "Global Stewardship", what differences would it make in how we think about its subject matter? It would still be about transnational issues, about the shape of the world, the way things are, the forces at work and likely to affect the future. It would still be about the effects of human activities upon landscapes and hydrosphere and atmosphere... and about expanding the understanding of how things work. Among those things are human systems, economic, political, etc... and it's impossible to approach those without a "critical" stance. But where should that begin, and end? What of the Emperor's Clothes should we begin with?

see meta 27 march for OED 'stewardship' and steward

1 May
In-class writing: meditations on 'stewardship'

(in subsequent discussion, with the assistance of Annie, google, and the OED, we teased out several facets:

environmental context, with implied conflict with 'business'
Christian imagery and Parables
Management (decisions, opportunity costs, risks, substitutions)
protection
guardianship / nurturant
noblesse oblige ['Privelege Entails Responsibility' --see a Korean student's take on the issue]
White Man's Burden

And for whom might we Steward? ...for the future
and why? ...because we are Informed, and/or invested with power

"We are as gods, so we might as well get good at it..." [Stewart Brand --see Manifesto. He went on to add "...a realm of intimate personal power is developing - the power of individuals to conduct their own education, find their own inspiration, shape their own environment, and share the adventure with whoever is interested." ...think about that in the contect of Cyber-Marx!]

Here's the text of Kipling's The White Man's Burden , first published in McClure's Magazine (Feb. 1899). I also cited the line "lesser breeds without the law", from Kipling's Recessional. Both of these repay careful reading.

And just for fun: Die Internationale (1888) as Translated by Richard S. Levy

Xak reminded us of Dr. Seuss's Lorax: text here, and THE LORAX and SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Developed by: Dr. John Ramsey, University of Houston