The world faces an environmental crisis unprecedented in human history. Carbon dioxide levels have reached heights not seen for three million years, and the greatest mass extinction since the time of the dinosaurs appears to be underway. Such far-reaching changes suggest something remarkable: the beginning of a new geological epoch. It has been called the Anthropocene. The Birth of the Anthropocene shows how this epochal transformation puts the deep history of the planet at the heart of contemporary environmental politics. By opening a window onto geological time, the idea of the Anthropocene changes our understanding of present-day environmental destruction and injustice. Linking new developments in earth science to the insights of world historians, Jeremy Davies shows that as the Anthropocene epoch begins, politics and geology have become inextricably entwined.
Jeremy Davies teaches in the School of English at the University of Leeds.
"The world that all humans in all history knew has ended, and something new has started. This book can help you begin thinking about what that event—the biggest event in our lifetimes—really means."—Bill McKibben, author of Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet
"This is the best general introductory—and yet original and thoughtful—book I have read that explains to readers the political significance of the term Anthropocene."—Dipesh Chakrabarty, University of Chicago
"The Birth of the Anthropocene offers a very striking argument about how we should and should not use the idea of the Anthropocene. What is more, it is beautifully written and very clear—a real joy to read.”—Daniel Lord Smail, Harvard University
"Jeremy Davies carefully explicates precisely what is at stake in the notion of the Anthropocene for environmental politics and for humanities and social science scholarship."—Ben Dibley, University of Western Sydney, Australia
248 pp.6 x 8Illus: 2 maps, 1 table
9780520289987$27.95|£24.00Paper
Feb 2018