Abstract:
Our environment is saturated in the English language and “western” culture due to globalisation.
However, the accompanying western philosophical concepts can be contested, even resisted, in
different cultural contexts. The philosophical ideas associated with the Anglosphere are rooted in
the cultural, economic, religious and social traditions of broader Anglo-European, or western
culture and are decontested ideologically within that culture. The contestation of western
ideology is beneficial for global culture, but this aspect of cross-cultural dialogue is often
neglected in South Asia where English language learning and other development strategies result
in the internalisation of Anglo-European culture and norms. This study contrasts the
philosophical underpinnings of ethics and relations to the environment in South Asia and the
west. The frameworks underlying these systems of thought are more profound than cultural
hegemony or even philosophical world view, instead consisting of entirely different cultural
metaphysics. These profound differences can result in conceptual misunderstandings that can
only be resolved by dialogue, both internal and external. The aim of this study is to examine
ethical and environmental theories from both perspectives and show how this cross-cultural
dialogue can allow for uniquely South Asian solutions to environmental problems.
