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This book is devoted to the exploration of environmental Prometheanism, the belief that human beings can and should master nature and remake it for the better. Meyer considers, among others, the question of why Prometheanism today is usually found on the political right while environmentalism is on the left.
Chapters examine the works of leading Promethean thinkers of nineteenth and early and mid-twentieth century Britain, France, America, and Russia and how they tied their beliefs about the earth to a progressive, left-wing politics. Meyer reconstructs the logic of this "progressive Prometheanism" and the reasons it has vanished from the intellectual scene today.
The Progressive Environmental Prometheans broadens the reader's understanding of the history of the ideas behind Prometheanism. This book appeals to anyone with an interest in environmental politics, environmental history, global history, geography andAnthropocene studies.
List of contents
- Introduction: Earthviews and Worldviews.- Chapter 1: The Technocratic Prometheans: Engineering Society and Environment.- Chapter 2: The Scientific Prometheans: Studying Nature to Improve It.- Chapter 3: The Prophetic Prometheans: Envisioning a New World and New Earth.- Conclusion: The Politics of Prometheanism Revisited.
About the author
William B. Meyer is Associate Professor of Geography at Colgate University. He is the author of Human Impact on the Earth (1996), Americans and Their Weather: A History (2000; updated edition, 2014), and The Environmental Advantages of Cities (2013), as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters.
Summary
This book is devoted to the exploration of environmental Prometheanism, the belief that human beings can and should master nature and remake it for the better. Meyer considers, among others, the question of why Prometheanism today is usually found on the political right while environmentalism is on the left.
Chapters examine the works of leading Promethean thinkers of nineteenth and early and mid-twentieth century Britain, France, America, and Russia and how they tied their beliefs about the earth to a progressive, left-wing politics. Meyer reconstructs the logic of this “progressive Prometheanism” and the reasons it has vanished from the intellectual scene today.
The Progressive Environmental Prometheans broadens the reader’s understanding of the history of the ideas behind Prometheanism. This book appeals to anyone with an interest in environmental politics, environmental history, global history, geography andAnthropocene studies.
