Field Guide to the Patchy Anthropocene

Nature has gone feral. How shall we re-attune ourselves to the new nature? A field guide can help.

Field guides teach us how to notice, identify, name, and so better appreciate more-than-human worlds. They hone our powers of observation and teach us to see the world anew. Field Guide to the Patchy Anthropocene leads readers through a series of sites, observations, thought experiments, and genre-stretching descriptive practices to take stock of our current planetary crisis. Foregrounding nonhumans as world-changing historical actors, this book looks to nurture a revitalized natural history to address the profound challenges of our times.

The Anthropocene is not only planetary, but it takes form, and gains momentum, within social and ecological patches. Field-based observations and place-based knowledge-cultivation-getting up-close and personal with patchy dynamics-are vital if we are to truly grapple with the ecological challenges and the historical conjunctures that are bringing us to multiple catastrophic tipping points.

This field guide shifts attention away from knowledge-extractive practices of globalization to encourage skilled observers of many stripes to pursue their commitments to place, social justice, and multispecies community. It is through attention to the beings, places, ecologies, and histories of the Anthropocene that we can reignite curiosity, wonder, and care for our damaged planet.