Extending the Idea of Environment: New Perspectives and Tools for a new Knowledge

Most scholars and actors in civil society no longer deny the existence of a climate crisis. Very little is being done about it, however, which appears logically and rationally incomprehensible. To try and find a reason for this peculiar behavior, since it could be vital to the survival of our species, the hypothesis might be advanced that it is a symptom of a much greater misunderstanding of the world, which has biased and distorted our ways of creating knowledge.
This book is mainly about putting forward new ideas and strategies to cope with climate change, in the shared conviction that a new understanding is crucial to stand a chance against its consequences and to be up to mending what has so far been broken. The authors focus on various facets of the complexity of the environmental issue, and their arguments enter a powerful resonance that shows their inner interconnectedness and how letting it flow achieves interesting and useful results.
The book is composed of three parts: the first, ‘Perspectives’, contains chapters proposing alternative ways of understanding the environment and its dominant narrative. The authors are mostly committed to changing the reference frame through which the whole question is being addressed. The second part, ‘Propositions’, is focused on highlighting significant aspects of the environmental crisis that still need to be properly taken into account and on suggesting new policies and tools to cope with it. It has an ethical and strategic flavor. The third part, ‘Cases’, deals with the ‘real’ world, making use of field research and accurate analysis that illustrate the close link between what we are used to calling ‘theory’ and ‘practice’. You will find it easy to establish parallels and connections between the chapters. I hope you will enjoy it.

List of Figures
Introduction: Environment as a Short Circuit in the Knowledge Production System
Fabio D’Andrea
University of Perugia, Italy

Part 1 – Perspectives
Chapter 1 Planetary Ecology and the Monopolization of the Ecological Transition
Andrea Lampis
Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil
Chapter 2 Henri Lefebvre’s Theory of Space: Critical Points on the Idea of ‘the Environment’
Chryssoula Mitsopoulou
Panteion University, Athens, Greece
Chapter 3 Grasping Gaia
Ali Arshad
Beaconhouse National University, Pakistan

Part 2 – Propositions
Chapter 4 Environmental Sustainability: Ideas about the Future, Expectations and Justice
Isabella Corvino
University of Perugia, Italy
Chapter 5 Planet-Centric Knowledge as a Mechanism for Combating Environmental and Climate Challenges in the EU Context
Tea Golob
Faculty of Information Studies, Slovenia
Matej Makarovič
Faculty of Information Studies, Slovenia
Chapter 6 The Importance of Foresight Studies to Address Environmental Challenges
Elvira Martini
University “G. Fortunato”, Italy
Maria Carmina Sgambato
University of Foggia, Italy

Part 3 – Cases
Chapter 7 Sustainability Cultures and Communication between Woke Capitalism and Greenwashing: Case Studies in Latin America and Europe
Francesca Cubeddu
IRPPS-CNR of Rome, Italy
Lucia Picarella
Universidad Católica de Colombia, Colombia
Chapter 8 The Rationale for Environmental Justice in the Conflict of Mexico City’s New International Airport (2001-2018)
Ignacio Rubio Carriquiriborde
School of Political and Social Sciences, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico
Chapter 9 Gendered Waterscapes: a Case Study of the Ahero Irrigation Scheme in Kenya
Mary N.O. Jimoh
University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Sagie Narsiah
University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Chapter 10 Exploring Ecological Conservation and Ecofeminism in India: A Case Study Analysis of Jharkhand in the Twenty-First Century
Aditi Basu
Independent researcher, India

Contributors

Fabio D’Andrea teaches Sociology at the University of Perugia. He has a solid professional and academic experience that includes professional development and academic teaching of traditional disciplines, such as General Sociology and Sociology of Culture, as well as more contemporary ones, such as Sociology of Sport, Sociology of the Body and Sociology of the Imaginary. He is an innovative teacher and author of publications in Italy and abroad about a non-orthodox reading of Simmel, French socio-anthropology, epistemology and environment. He is currently working on a complex model of knowledge where the symbolic-imaginal and emotional components crossed out by rationalism can be restored to their heuristic power. He is also sketching an alternative representation of humanity and its relationship with the environment. He is the Dean for the Investigation and Security Sciences first cycle degree course, Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Education, at the University of Perugia. He is a co-founder of the Imaginary and Mediterranean Sections of the Italian Sociological Association. He is also a member of the Board of TG04 Risk & Uncertainty of the International Sociological Association (ISA). Among his books: edited with V. Baldi, ‘Codice e luoghi. Abitare le relazioni nel reale-digitale’, Milano, Meltemi 2019; edited with M.G. Galantino, ‘Multidimensional Risks in the XXI Century’, Milano, Egea, 2023, open access book; ‘L’animale che immagina. Per una visione diversa dell’uomo e del suo mondo’, Torino, UTET, 2024.

Abstract Space; Adivasis; Airports; Anthropocentrism; Body; Capitalocene; Civic Actions; Climate Change; Communication; Ecological Justice; Ecological Narratives; Education; Environment; Environmental Conflicts; Ecofeminism; European Citizenship; EU Policy; Foresight; Future; Gaia; Gender Studies; Greenwashing; Human; Ideology; Intuition; Irrigation; Jharkhand; Justice; Kenya; Latin American Political Ecology; Majority World; Metamorphosis; Nature-Worship; Planet-centric Awareness; Planetary Ecology; Reflexivity; Risk Politics; Space; Sustainability; Spirituality; Waterscapes; Women