The Anthropocene has emerged as perhaps the scientific concept of the new millennium. Going further than earlier conceptions of the human–environment relationship, Anthropocene science proposes that human activity is tipping the whole Earth system into a new state, with unpredictable consequences. Social life has become a central ingredient in the dynamics of the planet itself.
How should the social sciences respond to the opportunities and challenges posed by this development? In this innovative book, Clark and Szerszynski argue that social thinkers need to revise their own presuppositions about the social: to understand it as the product of a dynamic planet, self-organizing over deep time. They outline ‘planetary social thought’: a transdisciplinary way of thinking social life with and through the Earth. Using a range of case studies, they show how familiar social processes can be radically recast when looked at through a planetary lens, revealing how the world-transforming powers of human social life have always depended on the forging of relations with the inhuman potentialities of our home planet.
Presenting a social theory of the planetary, this book will be essential reading for students and scholars interested in humanity’s relation to the changing Earth.
By:
Nigel Clark,
Bronislaw Szerszynski (Lancaster University)
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 226mm,
Width: 150mm,
Spine: 18mm
Weight: 363g
ISBN: 9781509526352
ISBN 10: 1509526358
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 30 October 2020
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction: What Planet Are You On? Chapter 1: Earth at the Threshold Chapter 2: Who Speaks through the Earth? Chapter 3: Planetary Social Life in the Making Chapter 4: What is Planetary Social Thought? Chapter 5: Inhuman Modernity, Earthly Violence Chapter 6: Terra Mobilis Chapter 7: Unearthing Worlds, Decolonizing the Planet Chapter 8: Conclusion
Nigel Clark is Professor of Human Geography at Lancaster University. Bronislaw Szerszynski is Professor of Sociology at Lancaster University.
Reviews for Planetary Social Thought: The Anthropocene Challenge to the Social Sciences
We hear a lot about the global environmental crisis, but do we have the ideas to get us out of the problems we have collectively created? Planetary Social Thought challenges social scientists and humanists to rebuild their intellectual house so as to help humanity think anew about a world to come. Noel Castree, University of Manchester