The Environmental Movement and the Environmentally Concerned Scientific Community in Chile

This paper is an examination of the role played by the Chilean environmentally concerned scientific community within the larger environmental movement in Chile. The Chilean movement and the role the scientific community plays with in it is, to a significant extent, a microcosm of the worldwide environmental movement. Its study adds to the understanding of the global environmental movement. The Chilean movement however, has its own specificities, reflecting the historical circumstances, the ecological region and the political culture within which it has evolved. Although the Chilean scientific movement for the environment may appear influential and vital, questions are raised about the implications of the lack of debate among Chilean scientists of ecophilosophical issues that elsewhere raise serious doubt about the role of science and the dominant scientific paradigms in the environmental crisis.