Planetary Social Thought

The Anthropocene Challenge to the Social Sciences

Planetary Social Thought
Nigel Clark, Bronislaw Szerszynski
RRP:
NZ$ 42.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 36.54
Paperback
h230 x 158mm - 256pg
30 Oct 2020 UK
International import eta 10-30 days
9781509526352
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
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.
"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"Planetary Social Thought is a wide-ranging exploration of how closely intertwined, and how mutually sensitive, are the human and geological realms. This vivid and passionately argued book can help illuminate these new, emergent landscapes, and chart a path through them. "Jan Zalasiewicz, University of Leicester"This book offers a terra-forming analysis, strongly willed to make us think. Using more than one analytic perspective at once--geos and bios and what exceeds both--its scope ranges topologically from the planet to the microbe. Planetary Social Thought is a feat of writing-and it is not afraid of animisms!"Marisol de la Cadena, University of California, Davis"Planetary Social Thought takes the challenge of the Anthropocene to a new level. Rather than simply adopting a social science view of the planet, the authors allow planetary forces to redefine the very sense of the social, and allow the planet to take its place in the contested space of social entities. Clark and Szerszynski have redefined what "thought" will be for the twenty-first century. "Claire Colebrook, Pennsylvania State University
Nigel Clark is Professor of Human Geography at Lancaster University. Bronislaw Szerszynski is Professor of Sociology at Lancaster University.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9781509526352
Published: 30 Oct 2020
Published In: United Kingdom
Imprint: Polity Press
Publisher: Polity Press
Format: Paperback
Height: 230mm
Width: 158mm
Spine: 19mm
Weight: 354g
Pages: 256

In stock - for items in stock we aim to dispatch the next business day. For delivery in NZ allow 2-5 business days, with rural taking a wee bit longer.

Locally sourced in NZ - stock comes from a NZ supplier with an approximate delivery of 7-15 business days.

International Imports - stock is imported into NZ, depending on air or sea shipping option from the international supplier stock can take 10-30 working days to arrive into NZ. 

Pre-order Titles - delivery will vary depending on where the title is published, if local stock is available in NZ then 5-7 business days, for international imports it can be 10-30 business days. In all cases we will access the quickest supply option.

Delivery Packaging - we ship all items in cardboard sleeves or by box with either packing paper or corn starch chips. (We avoid using plastics bubble bags)

Tracking - Orders are delivered by track and trace courier and are fully insured, tracking information will be sent by email once dispatched.

View our full Order & Delivery information