{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/32277"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/32277","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"\"The Length of Our Vision\": Thoreau, Berry, and Sustainability","abstract":"The past several years have seen increased awareness of environmental degradation, climate change, and energy concerns—and with good reason; addressing the problem of sustainability is vital if American culture is to both persist and thrive. Because this issue affects all aspects of our lives, it can easily seem overwhelming, encouraging the belief that solutions to these problems lie beyond the scope of individual action. This study seeks to identify legitimate personal responses one can make to issues of sustainability. I approach this subject with an eye toward answering a simple series of questions: Where are we?; How did we get here?; Where are we going?; Is that where we want to go? I briefly investigate the history of the idea of progress, focusing especially on our culture's fascination with and embrace of technological progress. Following this investigation, I examine two works that offer critiques of progress: Thoreau's classic text, Walden, and Wendell Berry's, The Unsettling of America. These texts are chosen for a few reasons. First, a clear tradition of critical inquiry can be traced from Thoreau to Berry. Second, the historical distance between these authors makes a comparison of their work particularly illuminating. Though they are citizens of the same country, speak the same language, and ask similar questions, each author writes in response to different worlds—Thoreau's just beginning to embrace industrial capitalism and technological progress, and Berry's very much the product of that embrace. Most importantly, however, both authors focus on individual action and responsibility.","abstract_html":"The past several years have seen increased awareness of environmental degradation, climate change, and energy concerns—and with good reason; addressing the problem of sustainability is vital if American culture is to both persist and thrive. Because this issue affects all aspects of our lives, it can easily seem overwhelming, encouraging the belief that solutions to these problems lie beyond the scope of individual action. This study seeks to identify legitimate personal responses one can make to issues of sustainability. I approach this subject with an eye toward answering a simple series of questions: Where are we?; How did we get here?; Where are we going?; Is that where we want to go? I briefly investigate the history of the idea of progress, focusing especially on our culture's fascination with and embrace of technological progress. Following this investigation, I examine two works that offer critiques of progress: Thoreau's classic text, Walden, and Wendell Berry's, The Unsettling of America. These texts are chosen for a few reasons. First, a clear tradition of critical inquiry can be traced from Thoreau to Berry. Second, the historical distance between these authors makes a comparison of their work particularly illuminating. Though they are citizens of the same country, speak the same language, and ask similar questions, each author writes in response to different worlds—Thoreau's just beginning to embrace industrial capitalism and technological progress, and Berry's very much the product of that embrace. Most importantly, however, both authors focus on individual action and responsibility.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gibbs, Jared Andrew"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":"English","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Salaita, Steven G."],"committee_members":["Graham, Peter W.","Siegle, Robert B."],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-04-22","date_published":"2010-04-22","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:35Z","subjects":["Agriculture","Abstraction","Sustainability","Economy","Progress"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-05062010-143500"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-05062010-143500","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32277","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Salaita, Steven G."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Graham, Peter W.","Siegle, Robert B."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Gibbs, Jared Andrew"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:35:21Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:35:21Z","2010-05-12"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2010-04-22"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Agriculture","Abstraction","Sustainability","Economy","Progress"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-05062010-143500"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32277"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The past several years have seen increased awareness of environmental degradation, climate change, and energy concerns—and with good reason; addressing the problem of sustainability is vital if American culture is to both persist and thrive. Because this issue affects all aspects of our lives, it can easily seem overwhelming, encouraging the belief that solutions to these problems lie beyond the scope of individual action. This study seeks to identify legitimate personal responses one can make to issues of sustainability. I approach this subject with an eye toward answering a simple series of questions: Where are we?; How did we get here?; Where are we going?; Is that where we want to go? I briefly investigate the history of the idea of progress, focusing especially on our culture's fascination with and embrace of technological progress. Following this investigation, I examine two works that offer critiques of progress: Thoreau's classic text, Walden, and Wendell Berry's, The Unsettling of America. These texts are chosen for a few reasons. First, a clear tradition of critical inquiry can be traced from Thoreau to Berry. Second, the historical distance between these authors makes a comparison of their work particularly illuminating. Though they are citizens of the same country, speak the same language, and ask similar questions, each author writes in response to different worlds—Thoreau's just beginning to embrace industrial capitalism and technological progress, and Berry's very much the product of that embrace. Most importantly, however, both authors focus on individual action and responsibility."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["\"The Length of Our Vision\": Thoreau, Berry, and Sustainability"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Salaita, Steven G."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Graham, Peter W.","Siegle, Robert B."],"dc:contributor.department":["English"],"dc:creator":["Gibbs, Jared Andrew"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:35:21Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:35:21Z","2010-05-12"],"dc:date.issued":["2010-04-22"],"dc:description.abstract":["The past several years have seen increased awareness of environmental degradation, climate change, and energy concerns—and with good reason; addressing the problem of sustainability is vital if American culture is to both persist and thrive. Because this issue affects all aspects of our lives, it can easily seem overwhelming, encouraging the belief that solutions to these problems lie beyond the scope of individual action. This study seeks to identify legitimate personal responses one can make to issues of sustainability. I approach this subject with an eye toward answering a simple series of questions: Where are we?; How did we get here?; Where are we going?; Is that where we want to go? I briefly investigate the history of the idea of progress, focusing especially on our culture's fascination with and embrace of technological progress. Following this investigation, I examine two works that offer critiques of progress: Thoreau's classic text, Walden, and Wendell Berry's, The Unsettling of America. These texts are chosen for a few reasons. First, a clear tradition of critical inquiry can be traced from Thoreau to Berry. Second, the historical distance between these authors makes a comparison of their work particularly illuminating. Though they are citizens of the same country, speak the same language, and ask similar questions, each author writes in response to different worlds—Thoreau's just beginning to embrace industrial capitalism and technological progress, and Berry's very much the product of that embrace. 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