DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

Preserving Planet Earth

Changing Human Culture with Lessons from the Past

Jane Roland Martin author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:31st May '24

£36.99

Available to order, but very limited on stock - if we have issues obtaining a copy, we will let you know.

This paperback is available in another edition too:

Preserving Planet Earth cover

This book encourages readers to acknowledge humanity’s contribution to the environmental crisis, proposing a way forward by exploring the power of ordinary people to bring about large-scale cultural change.

Is it possible for humankind to change its ways and shed the belief that the planet is ours to do with as we like? Internationally acclaimed philosopher of education Jane Roland Martin argues that "humancentrism" is a learned affair, and what is learned can be unlearned. Turning to the past to see how large-scale cultural change has occurred, she discovers a pattern in the achievements of such historical luminaries as Martin Luther, Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks and Greta Thunberg that we too can follow. Drawing on history, philosophy, and literature as well as the natural and social sciences and hoping to mobilize readers to effective action, Martin employs an accessible and powerful rhetoric, with each chapter beginning with a scene from history written in dialogue form.

This book calls on young and old to avert a looming tragedy of Aristotelian proportions--the demise of the “Mother Nature” that made it possible for our species to flourish. Thoroughly interdisciplinary in its approach, it will appeal to students and teachers as well as general readers interested in environmental studies, philosophy, and education.

"A novel and fascinating look at the crisis of our lives and the possibility of doing something useful even at this late date. This collage of ideas, insights and historical analogies will make you think, which is what we need."

Bill McKibben, author The End of Nature

"Preserving Planet Earth is a testament to the importance of ongoing discourse across diverse communities and insights. Whenever we can engage new voices and constituencies, and empower informed stewardship, we create a new moment for achievement of bold conservation outcomes.”

Paula J. Ehrlich, President & CEO, E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation

ISBN: 9781032660080

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 453g

190 pages