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Micro-Landscapes of the Anthropocene

Ashleigh- note 4

The designation of nature as a resource is to denote that its primary function is to be useful to humankind. This way of thinking is highly problematic, not only in its anthropocentrism, but also in that these ideas manifest in action (or, as the case may be, inaction), causing damaging effects. For example, a number of animal species are going (or have already gone) extinct without any sort of fuss, purely because we are apathetic since the existence of these species does not directly, or measurably, benefit us. Animals such as the Eastern Hare Wallaby and Desert Rat-Kangaroo have vanished in the last century without public-outcry, as species value is typically determined by how greatly we need or esteem them.
Even in the case of highly-valued animals, such as elephants, their value is not inherently attributed, but earned by the economic benefits they provide, through tourism, and also their general popularity, which ensures their conservation is prioritised. Elephants are a keystone species that fulfil many necessary ecosystem functions, and yet their merit, like that of the majority of species, is fixed in association with the anthropocentric conception of worth. Particularly in the nineteenth century, animal were "grouped into useful and harmful ones. Protection... was only extended to the useful species. " (Gross, 2011).

Fortunately, we are starting to modify our notions of value in relation to species. Current projects, such as the Re-wilding Europe project, are working to reintroduce natural processes to landscapes, and renew environmental appreciation. They seek to re-center nature as being valuable in its own right, without needing to have value attributed to it.
They expose the interaction between biotic and abiotic environmental components, and situate humanity within this landscape, rather than in charge of it. These efforts, which shift traditional concepts of value-based species conservation, have the additional benefit of reducing the threat of species extinction by removing the detrimental narratives of conservation for the sake of utility.

Gross, M. (2011). Valuing Nature. Cell Press 21(14):525-527
[Video]
Re-Wilding Europe (2016). Making Europe A Wilder Place. Sourced from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyir6xQsQr0

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CRITICAL REFLECTION In our anthropocentric, contemporary society, human beings are positioned at the centre of the world, while other forms of nature are trivialised and marginalised; relegated as resources and commodified in terms of global capitalism. Our decision to engage with the concept of "marginal worlds" - posited by American marine biologist Rachel Carson - allowed us to destabilise the notion of humankind as a dictatorial planetary force vis-a-vis submissive animals, plants, elements and atmospheres, by instead highlighting the complex and overlooked connections and dichotomies that exist between these various entities. Our research covered a wide scope of theoretical frameworks, from Stacy Alaimo and Karen Barad's focus on "intra-activity" - denoting the links between the human and the non-human - to Bill Brown's "thing theory", a concept which emphasises the autonomy of "thingness" in the articulation of social significance. By applying these rich theories to key features of our modern zeitgeist - urban planning and garbage disposal; furniture and Google Earth - we were able to engender an 'eco-skeleton' in the face of anthropocentric thought. The 'eco-skeleton' refers to the intra-active exchanges between forms of nature which effectively structure, constitute and restrain the mobility of all environmental entities, including human beings. Moreover, the eco-skeleton explicates the vulnerabilities of human beings - conventionally perceived as the colonisers of the planet - by exposing humanity's limitations and vulnerability in its interaction with other aspects of nature.

Furthermore, this theoretical framework is enhanced by American environmental historian William Cronon’s introductory passage in his 1996 text Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place of Nature, which provides invaluable insight into situations where environmental thinking simply does not work,“since we have no clear indication of what would be ‘natural’ or ‘unnatural.’” (28) Essentially, thinking about nature is rendered redundant by archaic assumptions of the natural world as a passive entity in the background of the lives of humans, who occupy the foreground and cater to the survival and destruction of the anthropocentric perception of the ‘natural.’ The case of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (pictured) is a key case of the ‘Naturecultures’ concept, exemplified by the manner in which the approach to finding a solution to the toxic environment was manifested in the combination of human rationality and intellect via western sciences and ideologies.

Stemming from Cronon’s analysis, it is important to acknowledge two different modalities of ecocriticism: macroecocriticism – referring to large-scale examinations of nature, such as Cronon’s wild, blazing, disastrous fire – and microecocriticism, referring to aspects of the trivial and mundane, such as a discarded Coke can or a page of paper, which simultaneously provide a comprehensive and wholesale analysis of the natural world. By acknowledging the diverse levels at which the natural world can impact human experience, we can learn to appreciate and observe what could be considered 'eco-microagressions': subtle ways in which nature 'revolts' against anthropocentric ideologies on a daily basis. This notion is postulated in our short film and photo essay, which highlight the differences between the big and small, the macro and the micro, the unforgettable and the forgettable, the local and the global, the personal and the public... thus achieving a complex understanding of humanity’s multi-faceted relationship to its surrounding environment.

Images of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and its marginal portrayal

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Making Europe a wilder place