New senses of civilization from environmental activism and contributions of Leonardo Boff and liberation theologies

Abstract

The current global crisis reflects a civilizational crisis characterized by the collapse of economic, social, environmental and ethical structures, caused mainly by the overexploitation of natural resources, climate change, extreme inequalities and a consumerist cultural model. This context demands new societal meanings that redefine coexistence and human development. The purpose of the study is to make visible the contributions of Leonardo Boff, Liberation Theology and feminist ecotheology as ethical and aesthetic bases towards new civilizing formulations. These are proposed in a multidimensional, multidisciplinary, pluricultural and sentipensante perspective, formulating alternative ontoepistemic bases generated from native cultures and socio-environmental activisms, to transform the dominant societal matrixes. The methodology is qualitative and documentary, based on the bibliographic review of Boff's contributions and those of representatives of feminist ecotheology such as Teresa Forcades and Ivone Gebara. We analyze transversal lines related to ethical and aesthetic formulations that address global and systemic issues, linking them to struggles and activisms arising from the global south. Among the findings, it is highlighted that the civilizational crisis has western modernist, capitalist, patriarchal and extractivist roots. It is concluded that the environmental crisis is a manifestation of this civilizational crisis, and it is necessary to assume new ethical and aesthetic frameworks to confront inequalities and reconstruct human and natural relations. The contributions of Boff, Liberation Theology and feminist eco-theology, from the framework of native cultures and environmental activism, offer profound horizons of alternative societal meanings.