Deconstruction And Reconstruction Of Modern Ecological Security

Nature is the basis of the human beings, which supplies mankind with all the things they need. Whether nature can keep its evolution or not when it is interfered by the actions of mankind concerns the future of man. Namely, security of nature is the foundation of human security in ancient time.However, few people pay their attention to natural security although it may be troubled by mankind, because they must try their best to get enough foods to eat which are so difficult for them due to the low productivity. It's why the faint cry of some farsighted saints was overwhelmed by the fear of hunger. It seems rather ironic that the mankind cannot resolve this problem even after they have been promoting their productivity markedly. With the help of advanced technology, on one hand, large quantity of material wealth is made, which can keep humans far from starvation and live a civilized life. But on the other hand, the humans have run into the trap made by greed. Being driven by greed, humans only take nature as a thing that can be exploited as desired but nothing else. In such an alienated relationship between mankind and nature, the further human society develops the more serious eco-crisis. All these are done by man. Ecological security is put forward under this condition.During the time when industrial modernization expanding to every corner in the world, the discourse of ecological security is raised by way of environmental pollutions and Eco-Damage which are threading human society seriously. Ecological security is not only a simple issue in ecology areas, but also a complex one that connects with economy, politics and culture in course of globalization in which so much uncertainty emerge because of the modernization. The raising of ecological security theory is the inevitable result of the people who rethink the development of modern society. On one hand, more and more serious ecological problems have already transcended national borders and become global ones, which is the actual basis of ecological security theory shaping. On the other hand, those movements that happened in western nations and then influenced the whole world, such as Green Movement and Sustainable Development, show the way to ecological security and precipitate it to be important affairs in any nation, even in the whole world. In modern society, ecological security has displaced those security contents to some extent, such as military security, political security, economic security, and so on, to be a highlight concerning issue in nation states even to the whole world in new period. It's not simply seen as the basic of national security, but the ultimate security for the whole mankind.Since ecological security is so an important issue which can product an ultimate effect to human society that it is taken seriously in all fields. Though many people from different fields have done much research and achieved different conclusions, but there lacks a systematic study about it. In order to more fully understand the concept of a rich connotation, this paper tries to use STS"pocket-like"paradigm to analyze ecological security and reveals its multiple attribute and rich content. From the perspective of STS, ecological security is a evolve path of the interaction between man and the nature, is a historical process what and how human deal with the nature. Human being found"itself"and"rationality"in the process which people both coexist or struggle with the nature. Being guided by freedom and rationality, people really began to conquer the nature after the Enlightenment. However, human have changed its attitude to the nature when rationality and freedom spread unchecked----there is no such an idea that man is an integral part of nature any longer. Man is the ruler of the nature, and makes laws for it. It seems that the nature doesn't play a part in human society. As to man, rationality is taken too much stock, everything in the world should be devised into some orders according to rationality. In doing so, this so called"symbol of modernity"has already turned into a new kind of religious rule, which becomes the origin of ecological crisis modern society confronted with.After the industrial revolution, more material fortune has been made out, which is seen as a great victory of rationality. Nevertheless, rationality has changed into a kind of controlling power when it is used successfully in making things. Rationality shows its essence not only as advanced science–tech systems and highly institutionalization, but as a kind of cultural idea that tries to break with the tradition in modern society. In the industrial society, science and technology have turned into a kind of tool which is just for human excessive desire which drives them to extort the nature because instrumental rationality shields value rationality. In order to meet human desire, modern society is organized by the so-called"rationality"in a well differentiated and specialized form to achieve"top efficiency". No matter it's for the defect of human rationality itself, or the originality of the world, this kind of institutionalization can make people realize their so-called high efficiency to some extent; at the same time, it also brings so many uncertain consequences for modern society. Namely, risk comes into being in the interior of institution, which makes the order of human society disorder, and make people become helpless when they have to deal with the ecological crisis at hand. In the wave of globalization, rational culture that is represented by western industrial states runs up against national tradition, which leads to confliction and social instability. Expansion of modern rationality not only dissevers the tradition, but also washes away the idea of state for each nation, which causes the ruptures both in historical and spatial dimensions. As to ecological security, the cultural ruptures and the center of national states dispelling proves to be destructive powers. Specially, No matter for the consequence of science and technology, or for impact of the modern institution, or the function of modern culture, globalization is an amplifying device that makes the modern dilemma ecological security confronts seem to be worse.For the characteristics of modernity itself, it's no use trying to solve the modern paradox ecological security confronts only by way of using science and technology, or by changing the social institutions all alone. What we must do is to rethink the whole modern rationality fundamentally in way of"post-modernity"This kind of reflection requires us not to deal with ecological problems homogeneously, but to construct Risk Civilization bases on risk logic. On the basis, science and technology can be used more reasonably, so be done to the institutions and cultures. If so, eco-system should be safer because the uncertainty that may lead to disaster can be reduced much radically.