DEFIANT EARTH

The author of this important book is Professor of Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University in Australia and author of Requiem for a Species about how and why we resist the truth about climate change. Subtitled 'the fate of humans in the Anthropocene', this book spells out the implications of this new geological epoch defined by the new discipline of Earth Systems Science and which acknowledges humans as a geological force. Progressive thought in the humanities has been trying to cut humans down to size, but Hamilton shows that our freedom and power nevertheless confer great responsibility.

The first chapter spells out that this new geological era is a real rupture with the past that has created a convergence of human and geological history as a result of the impact of human activity on the Earth System as a whole. Hamilton argues that this represents an ontological shift in human self-understanding. Paradoxically and despite our technological power, we have become more vulnerable as climate becomes less predictable and controllable. The upward trend recorded by the insurance industry is a significant indication of this. Humans are both separate from and embedded in nature, and the history of modern science has been one of masculine striving for control and domination. Correspondingly, we do have freedom, but are also subject to necessity in terms of natural laws. Hence, the use of our freedom is a central issue, both collectively and individually.

The title of this review comes from a remark made by Napoleon to Goethe. Hamilton contrasts the attitudes deriving from Bacon and Goethe respectively. Bacon referred to science mastering and subjecting nature, which has been a driving force ever since and is embodied in the eco-modernist approach that greets the new era as a sign of our ability to renovate and control nature. A statement from the Breakthrough Institute claims that 'humans appear fully capable of continuing to support the burgeoning population by engineering and transforming the planet' (p. 63) A paradigmatic example would be solar geo-engineering aimed at controlling the global climate system and regulating the amount of sunlight through solar radiation management. For Hamilton, this is a 'last-ditch attempt by eco-modernists to impose order, to exercise mastery, to regulate the planet as a whole in the interests of humans. (p. 72) He further notes, correctly, that this technology carries the implicit promise of protecting the prevailing politico-economic system and sidestepping the necessity for fundamental change or a 'socio-fix'.

By contrast, the narrative of Goethe's Faust illustrates overreach and hubris where human creativity is a gift that also tests our character in making sure that ethical progress keeps up with technological progress. If the development of Bacon's attitude represents the forces of neglect, against these are ranged the forces of care. The former embodies power-hunger, greed, growth fetishism, hedonism and psychological weaknesses, while the latter stands for self-restraint, respect for the natural world, love of one's children, and the desire for civilisation to flourish (p. 124). In other words, domination and exploitation versus living in harmony with nature. He sums the situation up masterfully on page 135, where he lists the forces on the side of responsibility and care, including scientific insights into the Earth's physical limits, evidence of ecological disruption, the logic of long-term self-interest and the political power of environmentalism. Against this is ranged an economic structure driven by the profit motive, the enormous political power of corporate interests, the seemingly insatiable demand for material affluence, along with 'human weaknesses of wilful ignorance, apathy, evasion and denial.' The Anthropocene meets globalisation, the World Economic Forum meets the World Social Forum, freedom meets power and responsibility.

Hamilton makes a clear distinction between anthropocentrism as a scientific fact and a normative claim: we now inhabit the Earth System driven by interconnected cycles and forces, where human activity modifies many of the processes and has - perhaps irreversibly - disrupted some of these, which means that we cannot revert to the Holocene. Oceans are one third more acidic, while humans represent 30% of animal biomass on the planet, domestic animals 67%, and other wild animals only 3% - a figure I found quite shocking. Our collective power is very considerable, even if we feel disempowered at an individual level. However, encouragingly and in spite of the fact that the measures were inadequate - see my review of Peter Wadhams' book - the tension between North and South shifted in the Paris Climate Summit of 2015 to a rhetoric that humankind must act as a whole in response to the question: how can we all live together on this Earth?

In spite of denials and resistance, we can no longer avoid planetary responsibility, especially given that we are now more aware than ever of our impact on the Earth in the present, and by implication in the future. Curiously, in this respect the book makes no mention of population, which is not even in the index. This is manifestly a key impact in addition to rising consumption and requires the empowerment of women, especially in Africa. The most significant overall contribution of this book is the call for a different kind of orientation to the Earth, 'one in which we understand deeply our extraordinary power and unique responsibility.' (p. 152) The forces of neglect represent business as usual, a form of wanton neglect as both reckless and self-indulgent, and this is the default momentum unless sufficient resistance is engendered. This is where politics is unavoidably central, but awareness and outrage provide the fuel for action, otherwise we just remain passive passengers and betray the future of our children. Hence the pressing need for more people to become activists and bring together the forces of care. This book articulates why this has become urgent and necessary.