Exploring the “edge”: re-imagining the potential of permaculture’s third ethic

Luchkowec, Danielle (2023) Exploring the “edge”: re-imagining the potential of permaculture’s third ethic. Masters thesis, Northern Arizona University.

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Abstract

Permaculture with its guiding ethics and principles is a social and ecological grassroots movement that has the potential to transform how people design and engage with the world around them. Permaculture, despite its many social applications, has been widely understood as an ecological-based movement. Using a resilience and cultural change theory lens consisting of nine interviews and a focus group, this research aims to broaden the social implications of permaculture as a transformative movement towards positive change. To expand this discussion this research asked: How are permaculture practitioners interpreting the third ethic of permaculture and putting it into practice? And how are these interpretations impacting how people engage in their communities? Diving into the third ethic and its applications demonstrates a potential “edge” by exploring the varying ways that the ethic and permaculture can be understood and utilized. Some major themes found in this study include: the concept of giving back, discussions of consumption, future-care and legacy, importance of building strong relationships, discussions around reparations, transformative justice and equity, and varying opinions around the concept of fair-share. Additional findings in this study have revealed concerns within the movement, insight surrounding the current role and future of permaculture as a movement, and permaculture ideologies’ potential to shift people's beliefs, mindset, and capability of contributing to an increase in community resilience and alternative way of existing in the world.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Publisher’s Statement:	© Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords:	community resilience; cultural change; environmentalism; permaculture; qualitative research; social systems
Subjects:	S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General)
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status:	Student
Department/Unit:	Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations College of Social and Behavioral Science > Sustainable Communities
Date Deposited:	19 May 2025 17:28
Last Modified:	19 May 2025 17:28
URI:	https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/6159

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