Anthropocene Convergences: A Report from the Field
Sideris addresses the challenge of achieving interdisciplinary dialogue to tackle the notion of humans as a geophysical force.
Sideris addresses the challenge of achieving interdisciplinary dialogue to tackle the notion of humans as a geophysical force.
Chakrabarty responds to the contributors of this volume by addressing five issues he considers fundamental to discussions on climate change.
Though a desirable environmental prospect, many wonder if zero waste is a realistic goal or merely a pipe dream. Starting from an analysis of the laws of thermodynamics, this article argues that it is an impossible ideal; however, along with the principles of the circular economy and reform of modern economic systems, the idea of zero waste can provide valuable insights into how we can establish a future ecological civilization.
Inspiration for sustainable waste policies and management will likely come from countries in the Global South, where consumerism and discard-oriented production are not yet fully established, where economies are less fixated on growth, and people’s lifestyles are not yet “cocooned in the consumption bubble.” Drawing on examples of informal and cooperative recyclers in Brazil, Gutberlet argues that these workers have developed effective practices and policies supporting circular economy, sufficiency, and solidarity.
These essays showcase examples from Canada and Western Europe, offering insights into how different forms of environmental knowledge and environmental politics come to be seen as legitimate or illegitimate.
Clapperton evaluates three existing frameworks for understanding Indigenous and non-Indigenous claims to know the environment. While each framework has its strengths, they reinforce a binary between Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge and keep salvage paradigms of Indigenous knowledge alive. Clapperton calls for an enlarged definition of Indigenous knowledge that could account for boundary-crossing and Indigenous people “doing” science.
Longley traces how geographic and cartographic knowledge of the Athabasca region, Alberta, Canada, colonized the region in the southern imagination long before the oil sands industry began extraction there. The practices of exploration, surveying, and documentation mapped the Athabasca region in terms of its rich bitumen deposits, obscuring the histories of Indigenous people. The south gained political and economic control of the region, although this process is incomplete and contested.
Sandlos and Keeling explore Indigenous resistance to arsenic pollution. Indigenous communities mobilized knowledge around environmental pollution and its health impacts. The authors show how this resistance to environmental racism is connected to other Indigenous struggles over industrial development and to issues such as land claims, sovereignty, and colonial dispossession.
Janovicek’s article studies the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and 1970s. By learning, preserving, and sharing traditional agricultural skills and knowledge, back-to-the-landers contributed to the revitalization of local food economies. The links they made connected them to others in their communities and to other generations of activists.
DeWitt explores tensions between national parks, private sector tourism, and environmentalism. Although private business owners feel connected to nature and play a role in park guardianship, a longstanding mistrust of private sector activity in and around national parks means their voices are often overlooked. The article calls for greater attention to the significance of gateway communities.