GLOBAL VISIONS AND COMMON GROUND: BIODEMOCRACY,POSTMODERN PRESSURES,AND THE EARTH CHARTER

The theme of this article is a rise in notions of a planetary community, and the tensions this evokes in global‐local and universal‐contextual debates. The primary focus is the realization that new visions are needed to respond to ecological dilemmas in a culturally diverse yet global world and interconnected Earth. Of the many ways to discuss this, I first consider the growing interest in and expansion of biodemocracy as a way to combine these dimensions. Insights and issues from postmodern perspectives follow this, surveying the suspicion of what lurks behind “global.” The next segment turns to ecological postmodernists who realize that a unifying path must be found for a viable planetary future. A brief and final section considers the Earth Charter to be an initiative responsive to postmodern pressures, and yet seeking a global vision and common ground for an emerging world community.