Anthropocene Encounters: New Directions in Green Political Thinking

Explores the significance of the Anthropocene for environmental politics, analysing political concepts in view of contemporary environmental challenges.

Frank Biermann (Edited by), Eva Lövbrand (Edited by)

9781108481175, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 February 2019

260 pages, 6 b/w illus.
25.4 x 17.8 x 1.6 cm, 0.67 kg

'… by discussing how the Anthropocene relates to contemporary political concepts such as democracy, power, and time, this collection opens up to multifaceted trajectories taking into consideration pluralist and critical perspectives.' L. A. Reisch and F. C. Doebbe, Journal of Consumer Policy

Coined barely two decades ago, the Anthropocene has become one of the most influential and controversial terms in environmental policy. Yet it remains an ambivalent and contested formulation, giving rise to a multitude of unexpected, and often uncomfortable, conversations. This book traces in detail a broad variety of such 'Anthropocene encounters': in science, philosophy and literary fiction. It asks what it means to 'think green' in a time when nature no longer offers a stable backdrop to political analysis. Do familiar political categories and concepts, such as democracy, justice, power and time, hold when confronted with a world radically transformed by humans? The book responds by inviting more radical political thought, plural forms of engagement, and extended ethical commitments, making it a fascinating and timely volume for graduate students and researchers working in earth system governance, environmental politics and studies of the Anthropocene. This is one of a series of publications associated with the Earth System Governance Project. For more publications, see www.cambridge.org/earth-system-governance.

List of figures
List of contributors
Acknowledgements
1. Encountering the 'Anthropocene': setting the scene Frank Biermann and Eva Lövbrand
Part I. The Conceptual Politics of the Anthropocene: Science, Philosophy, and Culture: 2. The 'Anthropocene' in global change science: expertise, the Earth, and the future of humanity Noel Castree
3. The 'Anthropocene' in philosophy: the neo-material Turn and the question of nature Manuel Arias-Maldonado
4. The 'Anthropocene' in popular culture: narrating human agency, force and our place on Earth Alexandra Nikoleris, Johannes Stripple and Paul Tenngart
Part II. Key Concepts and the Anthropocene: A Reconsideration: 5. Power, world politics and thing-systems in the Anthropocene Anthony Burke and Stefanie Fishel
6. Time and politics in the Anthropocene: to fast, too slow? Victor Galaz
7. Democracy in the Anthropocene Ay?em Mert
8. Global justice and the Anthropocene: reproducing a development story Jeremy Baskin
Part III. The Practices of Political Study in the Anthropocene: 9. The 'Good Anthropocene' and green political theory: rethinking environmentalism, resisting ecomodernism Anne Fremaux and John Barry
10. Co-producing knowledge and politics of the Anthropocene: the case of the future Earth program Silke Beck
11. The ethics of political research in the Anthropocene Paul Wapner
12. Epilogue: continuity and change in the Anthropocene James Meadowcroft
Index.

Subject Areas: Environmentalist thought & ideology [RNA], Earth sciences [RB], Philosophy of science [PDA], Environment, transport & planning law [LNK], International environmental law [LBBP], International relations [JPS]