The Resurgence Of The Real: Body, Nature And Place In A Hypermodern World

In this insightful, beautifully written work, an important feminist ecological thinker argues that an "ecological postmodern" ethos has been lately emerging.

In this insightful, beautifully written work, one of our most important feminist ecological thinkers argues that an "ecological postmodern" ethos has been lately emerging. Reflecting on the roots of modernity in Renaissance humanism, the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment, Spretnak considers the modern, mechanistic worldview with "Homo economicus" at its center. She asserts that the ideologies of modernity have devalued "the knowing body, the creative cosmos, and the complex sense of place." Yet the author argues persuasively that the modern crisis is being challenged by an impressive network of corrective efforts today. In addition, Spretnak reframes "the "other" history" of the modern era with exceptional clarity: the ecospiritual lineage of movements that resisted the corrosive effects of the industrialized modern world, including the Arts and Crafts movement, Modernist writers and artists who rejected the "machine aesthetic" after World War One, and grassroots movements today that are forging a new politics of local and regional revitalization. Both a sharp critique and a graceful performance of the art of the possible, "The Resurgence of the Real" changes the way we think about living in the modern world.