People are key elements of wild places. At the same time, human
entanglements with wild ecologies involve extractivism, the growth of
resource-based economies, and imperial-colonial expansion, activities
that are wreaking havoc on our planet. Through an ethnographic
exploration of Canada’s ten UNESCO Natural World Heritage sites,
Inhabited reflects on the meanings of wildness, wilderness, and
natural heritage. As we are introduced to local inhabitants and their
perspectives, Phillip Vannini and April Vannini ask us to reflect on
the colonial and dualist assumptions behind the received meaning of
wild, challenging us to reimagine wildness as relational and rooted in
vitality. Over the three years they spent in and around these sites,
they learned from Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples about their
entanglements with each other and with non-human animals, rocks,
plants, trees, sky, water, and spirits. The stories, actions, and
experiences they encountered challenge conventional narratives of wild
places as uninhabited by people and disconnected from culture and
society. While it might be tempting to dismiss the idea of wildness as
outdated in the Anthropocene era, Inhabited suggests that rethinking
wildness offers a better – if messier – way forward. Part
geography and anthropology, part environmental and cultural studies,
and part politics and ecology, Inhabited balances a genuine love of
nature’s vitality with a culturally responsible understanding of its
interconnectedness with more-than-human ways of life.
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Wildness and the Vitality of the Land
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780228010272
Publisert
2025
Utgiver
ACP - McGill Queen's University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter