Big Here and the Long Now

From Global Uniformity to the New Diversities

Häftad, Engelska, 2026

221 kr

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Beskrivning

For thousands of years, humanity's story was one of diversification. Across centuries and continents our species proliferated new approaches to family and community life; to agriculture, economics, religion, artistic expression and self-understanding. Today, this process is in reverse. Culturally and ecologically, we are witnessing an almost universal drive towards homogeneity and the loss of diversity. The global forces of capitalism have created a world riddled with overlapping crises, with any alternatives pushed into the margins, narrowing the scope for action just when we need it most. And yet its logic is never totalising: contrary to Margaret Thatcher's famous mantra, there are many alternatives. The Big Here and the Long Now begins with the story of how our world of efficiency, standardisation and development optimism first came into being; and how promises of progress, growth and prosperity have, in recent years, acquired a nasty aftertaste. The book concludes with hope, and an exploration of creolisation and hybridity. With biocultural diversity already being revived by activists and indigenous communities, from Manhattan to Micronesia, there are plenty of green shoots. Now they must be cultivated and nurtured.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2026-04-20
Mått:203 x 28 x 133 mm
Vikt:330 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:320
Förlag:Pluto Press
ISBN:9780745352220

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Mer om författaren

Thomas Hylland Eriksen (1962 – 2024) was Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo and former President of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA). He was among the most highly cited anthropologists of his generation, and his classic and accessible textbook Small Places, Large Issues remains a cornerstone in anthropology courses. His later books, including Overheating, tackled the important issue of climate change within the discipline.

Recensioner i media

'Truly an inspiration. Only someone of Eriksen's stature could write this call to intellectual and political action in everyday life with such authority, lucidity and grounding. Through smartphones, containerships, cement and soil, Eriksen shows us that there are small signs of more liveable worlds than the juggernaut of globalisation allows'

Innehållsförteckning

Introduction: The Big Here and the Long NowPart I. A Global History of Standardisation1. Stories of Loss2. Everything Was Not Better Before3. The World after 14924. The Global Bulldozers: State and Market5. Scale Collisions6. The Loss of Flexibility Part II. Overheating in the 21st Century7. The World after 19918. The Homogenocene9. The Smartphone and the Container Ship10. The Botanical Garden – and the Zoological One11. Concrete12. Soil13. Invasions14. Language15. Food16. The Sensory System17. Modules in a Customised World18. Good StandardisationPart III. Miracles of Creolisation19. David and Goliath20. Cracks in the Concrete21. Desensitisation22. Boundary Crossings23. Creole Conviviality24. The Miracles of Creolisation25. TAMAAfterword and AcknowledgementsNotesBibliographyIndex