DeepSummary
The episode features an interview with Salar Mameni, an art historian and assistant professor at UC Berkeley, discussing their new book 'Terracene: A Crude Aesthetics' published by Duke University Press. Mameni theorizes the concept of 'Terracene' as a way to understand the convergence of climate change and the war on terror, challenging the traditional scientific notion of the Anthropocene.
Mameni provides a critique of the Anthropocene as an imperial, Eurocentric, and anthropocentric idea that obscures the unequal distribution of violence and risk associated with climate change. The book draws from the work of artists whose practices interrogate histories of settler-colonialism and imperialism in regions affected by the war on terror, such as Iran, Iraq, Yemen, and Palestine.
Mameni emphasizes the importance of engaging with sensorial knowledges, such as those derived from lived experiences of war and trauma, as well as indigenous and Islamic cosmologies. The book experiments with the academic form, incorporating memoir, drawings, and non-linear narratives to challenge the traditional boundaries of academic writing and to honor different ways of learning.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Mameni's concept of 'Terracene' challenges the scientific notion of the Anthropocene by highlighting the convergence of climate change and the war on terror.
- The book critiques the imperial, Eurocentric, and anthropocentric underpinnings of the Anthropocene discourse, which obscures the unequal distribution of violence and risk.
- Mameni emphasizes the importance of engaging with sensorial knowledges, such as those derived from lived experiences of war and trauma, as well as indigenous and Islamic cosmologies.
- The book draws from the work of artists whose practices interrogate histories of settler-colonialism and imperialism in regions affected by the war on terror.
- Mameni experiments with the academic form, incorporating memoir, drawings, and non-linear narratives to challenge traditional boundaries of academic writing and honor different ways of learning.
- The concept of 'Terracene' aims to mobilize attention and action towards demilitarization, similar to how the discourse around climate change has gained traction.
- Mameni critiques the exclusionary nature of scientific disciplines and advocates for incorporating other forms of knowledge production, such as artistic and religious perspectives.
- The book engages with the critique of secularism and its opposition to religious thought, highlighting the importance of incorporating Islamic and indigenous cosmologies.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “I think philosophers of religion are very good at telling us that secularism is only meaningful when it positions itself against religion. So secularism comes into being as. In opposition with religion. So in a way, it produces religion.“ by Salar Mameni
- “So I offer different ways of engaging the senses that I find more relevant to theories of the terracene.“ by Salar Mameni
- “I think when we think with Islam and when we think with pre-islamic traditions, the earth is sacred, right? So it is not there for the human.“ by Salar Mameni
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Episode Information
New Books in Environmental Studies
Marshall Poe
5/5/24