Changing Our Environment, Changing Ourselves ― Nature, Labour, Knowledge and Alienation

In this book, a celebration of the work of the sociologist Peter Dickens serves as the catalyst for exploring the relationship between human ‘internal nature’ (our health and psychological well-being) and ‘external nature’ (the environment on which we depend and which we collectively transform). Across contributions from Ted Benton, James Ormrod, Kate Soper, John Bellamy Foster and Brett Clark, Graham Sharp, James Addicott, Kathryn Dean and Peter Dickens himself, the book draws attention to alienation associated with the promotion of different knowledges in late capitalist production. But it also highlights the possibilities for generating less alienated relations with our environment in the future. As well as discussing the philosophical and theoretical issues involved, the book contains contemporary case studies of ultra-processed food, satellite farming, computerised thinking and dark tourism.

James S. Ormrod is a Principal Lecturer in Sociology, University of Brighton, UK. His research interests are in social movements and the relationships human beings have with their environment and the universe in general. He is the author ofFantasy and Social Movements (2014) and, with Peter Dickens, Cosmic Society (2007).