Hausmüll: Abfall und Gesellschaft in Westdeutschland 1945–1990
Hausmüll documents the rise of a “new” environmental problem in post-war Germany, that of an increase in consumption and consequently a dramatic increase in waste.
Hausmüll documents the rise of a “new” environmental problem in post-war Germany, that of an increase in consumption and consequently a dramatic increase in waste.
From the early exploits of Teddy Roosevelt in Africa to blockbuster films such as March of the Penguins, Gregg Mitman reveals how changing values, scientific developments, and new technologies have come to shape American encounters with wildlife on and off the big screen.
Marco Armiero, Robert S. Emmett, and Gregg Mitman have assembled a cabinet of curiosities for the Anthropocene, bringing together a mix of lively essays, creatively chosen objects, and stunning photographs by acclaimed photographer Tim Flach. Future Remains gathers fifteen objects which resemble more the tarots of a fortuneteller than the archaeological finds of an expedition—they speak of planetary futures.
Jennifer Clapp examines the nature of international trade in toxic waste and the roles of multinational corporations and environmental NGOs. Waste transfer has become a routine practice for firms in industrialized countries and poor countries accept these imports but struggle to manage the materials safely. She argues that governments have failed to recognize the voices of protest.
Finn Arne Jørgensen examines the development of the Scandinavian beverage container deposit-refund system, which has the highest return rates in the world, from 1970 to the present day. He reveals the challenges faced when the system was exported internationally and explores the critical role of technological infrastructures and consumer convenience in modern recycling.
Alternative Futures brings together 35 essays on India’s future, written by a diverse set of authors: activists, researchers, media persons, those who have influenced policies, and those working at the grassroots. Divided into four sections—Ecological Futures, Political Futures, Economic Futures, and Socio-Cultural Futures—the book covers a wide range of issues including environmental governance, biodiversity, democracy and power, law, agriculture, pastoralism, industry, languages, learning and education, knowledge, health and sexuality among others.
Adrian Ivakhiv proposes an ecological realism based on humanity’s eventual demise, asking what we can do now and what quality of compost we should leave behind.
Vital Reenchantments takes up E. O. Wilson’s Biophilia (1984), James Lovelock’s Gaia (1979), and Carl Sagan’s Cosmos (1980), to show how each work fleshes out scientific concepts with attention to “affective wonder.”
Object Oriented Environs takes its cue from the philosophical movement Object-Oriented Ontology in the hope of provoking a conversation about how early modernists, or humanists in general, parse the question of matter, of things. This collection emerged from a session of the Shakespeare Association of America meeting in 2014.
Manifesto for Living in the Anthropocene argues that the current climate crisis calls for new ways of thinking and producing knowledge, suggesting that our collective inclination has been to go on in an experimental and exploratory mode, in which we refuse to foreclose on options or jump too quickly to “solutions.”