Back to the Ground - Knowledge, politics and practices of remaking Earth strata

This book brings together perspectives from the social sciences and humanities on how soils and subsoils are increasingly mobilized to tackle climate change and ecological issues. Carbon capture and storage, the extraction of energy and non-energy minerals, geothermal energy, biofuel production, organic waste recycling and soil remediation are central to the hoped-for green transition. Through an interdisciplinary lens, the book examines the social and ecological implications of these ground-based technological promises, addressing how they both dwell upon and reorient the joint becoming of social and geological strata in the Anthropocene. It is structured into three sections: Inhabiting a de-stratified Earth, Earthly re-stratifications, and Emerging practices and sensitivities to the Earth. Each section explores key aspects of contemporary efforts to reshape the Earth s strata and examines how these processes intersect with shifts in knowledge, power, practices, and our relationship with the planet. The book features case studies from Europe, North America, and South America that provide grounded insights into soil- and subsoil-based developments and initiatives and unpack their social, political, and ecological consequences.

List of contents

Section 1 Inhabiting a de-stratified Earth.- Section 2 Earthly re-stratifications experimentations and technologies.- Section 3 Emerging practices and sensitivities to the Earth.

Product details

• Assisted by: Adrien Baysse-Laine (Editor), Pierre-Olivier Garcia (Editor), Céline Granjou (Editor), Céline Granjou et al (Editor), Olivier Labussière (Editor), Germain Meulemans (Editor), Germain Meulemans et al (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 11.08.2025
• EAN: 9783031888878
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3188887-8
• No. of pages: 238
• Illustrations: XVIII, 238 p. 41 illus.
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences; Soziologie, Umweltmanagement, Gesellschaft und Kultur, allgemein, Humangeographie, Sustainable Development, Environmental Social Sciences, Environmental Management, Human Geography, Science and Technology Studies, Soil, Green Transition, Soil Degradation, tridimensional ecosystem, Earth strata, reterrestrialization, Environmental Theory