Postpolitics and the Limits of Nature i SUNY series in New Political Science ————— Bradley J. Macdonald, editor Postpolitics and the Limits of Nature Critical Theory, Moral Authority, and Radicalism in the Anthropocene ANDY SCERRI Publication of this book was made possible with financial support from the Faculty Book Publishing Subvention Fund at Virginia Tech. Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 201(cid:26) State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Scerri, Andy, author. Title: Postpolitics and the limits of nature : critical theory, moral authority, and radicalism in the anthropocene / Andy Scerri. Description: Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, [201(cid:26)] | Series: SUNY series in new political science | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017059916 | ISBN 9781438472133 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438472157 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Radicalism. | Climatic changes—Political aspects. | Income distribution—Political aspects. | Globalization—Political aspects. | Occupy movement. | Critical theory. Classification: LCC HN49.R33 S44 2018 | DDC 303.48/4—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017059916 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In memory of Alan Patrick Roberts Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi Chapter 1 From Mimetic Expression to the Rational Mastery of Nature 1 Chapter 2 Holism, Modernism, and “the Problem of the Environment” 31 Chapter 3 From Enlightenment Hubris to Neo-Enlightenment Humility 63 Chapter 4 Globalization, Neoliberalism, and Neocommunitarianism 99 Chapter 5 Postpolitics and the Return of Moral Authority 129 Chapter 6 Meaning Lost, Meaning Refound . . . 153 Conclusion 183 Notes 199 Bibliography 243 Index 269 Acknowledgments Many people in Australia, Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States helped to shape the argument presented here. Central influences came from longtime mentors, Paul James, Manfred Steger, and Tom Nairn. In this regard, I also thank Tim Luke, Univer- sity Distinguished Professor of political science, and François Debrix, director of the ASPECT program, at Virginia Tech. I am indebted to Bradley McDonald Michael Rinella, and Jenn Bennett-Genthner for their confidence in my ideas. I thank Karen Hult, chair of the Depart- ment of Political Science, for her sound advice, and am grateful for the support of former dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Elizabeth Spiller, and the current dean, Margaret Blieszner. I am thankful to Debra Stoudt, Janell Watson, Tom Ewing, Peter Porter, and the university subvention committee for their support. I am also extremely thankful to the generations of members of the Caucus for a New Political Science for maintaining a forum for scholarship of the kind to which this book endeavors to contribute. I am especially grateful to Elisabeth Chaves for her comments on versions of this work, and to Tim Luke, Arran Gare, Meg Holden, Andy Denis, Andy Cornell, and Metin Guven for commenting on all or part of the final draft. I also thank the anonymous reviewers for their many insightful comments and valuable suggestions. I am thankful for comments relating to significant sections of the work-in-progress presented at conferences and seminars, and offered by Andrew Biro, Geoffrey Whitehall, the students at Acadia University’s Social and Political Theory Colloquium, Zev Trachtenberg, Peter Cannavò, Jordan Laney, Gabriel Piser, Christian Matheis, Adrian Parr, Jenn Lawrence, Sarah-Marie Wiebe, Emily Howard, Warren Magnusson, Sarah Surak, Yogi Hendlin, ix