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"While snails rarely get a mention in most discussions of our sixth mass extinction event, the sad reality is that they are disappearing more rapidly than any other species, and Hawai'i's snails are amongst the hardest hit. Following snail trails through the islands' forests, laboratories, museums, and even a military training facility, this book explores processes of ecological and cultural loss as they are woven through with possibilities for hope, care, mourning, and resilience"--
List of contents
Introduction
In Search of Snails 1
1 The Wanderers
A Foray into Worlds Written in Slime 23
2 The Drifters
The Mysterious Deep Time Movements of Snails 51
3 The Collected
The Ongoing Colonial Entanglements of Shells 81
4 The Anonymous
Taxonomy and the Unknown Extinction Crisis 113
5 The Exploded
Solidarity and Military Snails 147
6 The Captives
Hope in a Time of Loss 177
Epilogue 197
Acknowledgments 211
Glossary 215
Notes 219
Bibliography 245
Index 263
About the author
Thom van Dooren
Summary
Following the trails of Hawai‘i’s snails to explore the simultaneously biological and cultural significance of extinction.
In this time of extinctions, the humble snail rarely gets a mention. And yet snails are disappearing faster than any other species. In A World in a Shell, Thom van Dooren offers a collection of snail stories from Hawai‘i—once home to more than 750 species of land snails, almost two-thirds of which are now gone. Following snail trails through forests, laboratories, museums, and even a military training facility, and meeting with scientists and Native Hawaiians, van Dooren explores ongoing processes of ecological and cultural loss as they are woven through with possibilities for hope, care, mourning, and resilience.
Van Dooren recounts the fascinating history of snail decline in the Hawaiian Islands: from deforestation for agriculture, timber, and more, through the nineteenth century shell collecting mania of missionary settlers, and on to the contemporary impacts of introduced predators. Along the way he asks how both snail loss and conservation efforts have been tangled up with larger processes of colonization, militarization, and globalization. These snail stories provide a potent window into ongoing global process of environmental and cultural change, including the largely unnoticed disappearance of countless snails, insects, and other less charismatic species. Ultimately, van Dooren seeks to cultivate a sense of wonder and appreciation for our damaged planet, revealing the world of possibilities and relationships that lies coiled within a snail’s shell.
