Planetary Social Thought (Paperback)

Nigel Clark

ISBN 10: 1509526358 / ISBN 13: 9781509526352

Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Oxford, 2020

About this Item

Paperback. The Anthropocene has emerged as perhaps the scientific concept of the new millennium. Going further than earlier conceptions of the humanenvironment 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 humanitys relation to the changing Earth. "Timely and much-needed theory of humanity's relation to the planet"-- Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781509526352

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Planetary Social Thought (Paperback)
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Oxford
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1509526358
• ISBN 13: 9781509526352
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Nigel Clark is Professor of Human Geography at Lancaster University.

Bronislaw Szerszynski is Professor of Sociology at Lancaster University.