The Politics of the Anthropocene is a sophisticated yet accessible
treatment of how human institutions, practices, and principles need to
be re-thought in response to the challenges of the Anthropocene, the
emerging epoch of human-induced instability in the Earth system and
its life-support capacities. However, the world remains stuck with
practices and modes of thinking that were developed in the Holocene -
the epoch of around 12,000 years of unusual stability in the Earth
system, toward the end of which modern institutions such as states and
capitalist markets arose. These institutions persist despite their
potentially catastrophic failure to respond to the challenges of the
Anthropocene, foremost among them a rapidly changing climate and
accelerating biodiversity loss. The pathological trajectories of these
institutions need to be disrupted by advancing ecological reflexivity:
the capacity of structures, systems, and sets of ideas to question
their own core commitments, and if necessary change themselves, while
listening and responding effectively to signals from the Earth system.
This book envisages a world in which humans are no longer estranged
from the Earth system but engage with it in a more productive
relationship. We can still pursue democracy, social justice, and
sustainability - but not as before. In future, all politics should be
first and foremost a politics of the Anthropocene. The arguments are
developed in the context of issues such as climate change,
biodiversity, and global efforts to address sustainability.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780192537461
Publisert
2019
Utgiver
Vendor
OUP Oxford
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter