Extending the Idea of Environment: New Perspectives and Tools for a new Knowledge

Most scholars and actors in civil society no longer deny the existence of a climate crisis. Very little is being done about it, however, which appears logically and rationally incomprehensible. To try and find a reason for this peculiar behavior, since it could be vital to the survival of our species, the hypothesis might be advanced that it is a symptom of a much greater misunderstanding of the world, which has biased and distorted our ways of creating knowledge.

This book is mainly about putting forward new ideas and strategies to cope with climate change, in the shared conviction that a new understanding is crucial to stand a chance against its consequences and to be up to mending what has so far been broken. The authors focus on various facets of the complexity of the environmental issue, and their arguments enter a powerful resonance that shows their inner interconnectedness and how letting it flow achieves interesting and useful results.

The book is composed of three parts: the first, Perspectives, contains chapters proposing alternative ways of understanding the environment and its dominant narrative. The authors are mostly committed to changing the reference frame through which the whole question is being addressed. The second part, Propositions, is focused on highlighting significant aspects of the environmental crisis that still need to be properly taken into account and on suggesting new policies and tools to cope with it. It has an ethical and strategic flavor. The third part, Cases, deals with the real world, making use of field research and accurate analysis that illustrate the close link between what we are used to calling theory and practice. You will find it easy to establish parallels and connections between the chapters. I hope you will enjoy it.