Ecological crisis – Anthropological crisis

In a tribute to Lucien Sève (deceased from Covid-19) who linked ecological cause and anthropological cause (notably in Saving the human race, not only the planet (*) published by Le Monde Diplomatique), Jean Guichard wrote a short text entitled Ecological crisis – Anthropological crisis (**).

Guichard argues that the destruction of the environment (devastation of natural resources, accumulation of waste, massive pollution, global warming, etc.) and the development of forms of indecent work (sweat shops, precariat, etc.), of subhuman living conditions (e.g. children from poor countries surviving on the rubbish sent by rich countries, forced migration of people who can no longer live where they came into being, etc.), are two aspects of the same crisis. Therefore the question of sustainable development cannot be tackled independently without taking into consideration the possibility offered to all human beings to develop the talents that participate in their humanity. Coping with such a crisis implies to drastically reform our production and exchange systems (industry resettlements, short circuits, etc.) and our living forms.

Life designing counselors can contribute to such changes. The core endeavor of the UNESCO-UNITWIN project must be to providing them with relevant methods.

(*) https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2011/11/SEVE/46912 (in French, Spanish an German)

(**) This text was published as an open letter by the site “Career guidance for social justice” https://careerguidancesocialjustice.wordpress.com/tag/jean-guichard/ and, slightly amended, as an editorial of the African Journal of Career Development, 2020, 2(1), a14.
https://doi.org/10.4102/ajcd.v2i1.14