The Progressive Environmental Prometheans : Left-Wing Heralds of a “Good Anthropocene”

This book is devoted to the exploration of environmental Prometheanism, the belief that human beings can and should master nature and remake it for the better. Meyer considers, among others, the question of why Prometheanism today is usually found on the political right while environmentalism is on the left. Chapters examine the works of leading Promethean thinkers of nineteenth and early and mid-twentieth century Britain, France, America, and Russia and how they tied their beliefs about the earth to a progressive, left-wing politics. Meyer reconstructs the logic of this “progressive Prometheanism” and the reasons it has vanished from the intellectual scene today. __The Progressive Environmental Prometheans__ broadens the reader’s understanding of the history of the ideas behind Prometheanism. This book appeals to anyone with an interest in environmental politics, environmental history, global history, geography and Anthropocene studies. This book is devoted to the exploration of environmental Prometheanism, the belief that human beings can and should master nature and remake it for the better. Meyer considers, among others, the question of why Prometheanism today is usually found on the political right while environmentalism is on the left. Chapters examine the works of leading Promethean thinkers of nineteenth and early and mid-twentieth century Britain, France, America, and Russia and how they tied their beliefs about the earth to a progressive, left-wing politics. Meyer reconstructs the logic of this "progressive Prometheanism" and the reasons it has vanished from the intellectual scene today. The Progressive Environmental Prometheans broadens the reader's understanding of the history of the ideas behind Prometheanism. This book appeals to anyone with an interest in environmental politics, environmental history, global history, geography and Anthropocene studies. William B. Meyer is Associate Professor of Geography at Colgate University. He is the author of Human Impact on the Earth (1996), Americans and Their Weather: A History (2000; updated edition, 2014), and The Environmental Advantages of Cities (2013), as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters.-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction: Earthviews and Worldviews....Pages 1-51 The Technocratic Prometheans: Engineering Society and Environment....Pages 53-91 The Scientific Prometheans: Studying Nature to Improve It....Pages 93-141 The Prophetic Prometheans: Envisioning a New World and New Earth....Pages 143-191 Conclusion: The Politics of Prometheanism Revisited....Pages 193-210 Back Matter....Pages 211-220