Description
Book SynopsisIn
Emergent Ecologies Eben Kirksey insists that we should turn our attention toward small-scale ecologies and search for hope in the efforts of individuals who are building new ecologies, and in the plants, animals, and fungi that are flourishing in unexpected places.
Trade Review"Amid widespread environmental destruction, with radical changes taking place in ecosystems throughout the Americas, where can we find hope?
Emergent Ecologies takes readers on an adventure through the Americas stopping over in ecosystems, laboratories, art exhibits, forests, and more in Panama, New York, Maine, Florida, Costa Rica to tell a story about the practices of worldmaking by ants, frogs, fungi, and other ontological amphibians. This is an exuberant and sensitively-written multispecies ethnography that is also a pleasure to read." -- Carla Nappi * New Books in Science, Technology and Society *
"With an activist’s ardor, Kirksey urges us to acknowledge that ecology’s current emphasis on preservation is futile. Our desire to conserve ecosystems, he insists, will be constantly thwarted. Instead, he argues for an active and pragmatic project of future making. For Kirksey, the project is urgent. It must begin now." -- Jeffrey Jerome Cohen * Public Books *
"More than ever before, fear drives the modern world. This book makes for a modern, sometimes terrifying, and a somewhat deep read. It is recommended for those interested in the 'new world' and its history. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; faculty and professionals." -- F. Huettmann * Choice *
"Innovative, thoroughly researched, and well written – a labour of love. It is best at its most specific, when Kirksey’s infectious curiosity and freewheeling fieldwork reveal surprising connections across biological theory, political economy, and cultural history." -- Ashley Carse * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1
1. Parallax 8
2. Ontological Amphibians 17
3. Hope in the Reverted Zone 36
4. Happiness and Glass 52
5. Bubbles 72
6. Xenoecologies 86
7. Becoming Wild 105
8. Multispecies Families 134
9. Parasites of Capitalism 163
10. Possible Futures 190
Conclusion 217
Acknowledgments 221
Notes 227
Bibliography 269
Index 291
