Welcome to the Institute for Earthbound Studies
This site is dedicated to writing about, documenting and theorizing a new political assemblages–referred to as the Earthbound people–who are coming into being at the dawn of the Anthropocene. The term “Earthbound people” was inspired by the work of French science studies theories Bruno Latour, but attempts to take the term far beyond his initial uses. The larger aim of the Institute is to develop what we imagine as an Anthropocene environmentalism which takes seriously the claim that we are entering a new moment of history on planet Earth which requires a new set of relationships between land, law and people.
We believe an Anthropocene geostory must offer insights into living with the Earth while addressing the political challenges the Anthropocene represents in its technical and scientific aspects, or what Latour refers to as our “geostorical moment” where we must face Gaia. At the same time, it must offer a vision of social, economic, political, spiritual and ecological engagements with the Earth that break from presently destructive ways of living and being. This new Anthropocene story must move beyond the failed projects of anthropocentrism, neoliberalism, and globalized industrial civilization. It must act as a roadmap for how we reach a different way of living on, in and with the Earth that takes seriously the scientific limits identified in concepts like planetary boundaries, while also providing a compelling story about our place in the cosmos. We need an Earthbound cosmopolitics for the Anthropocene, for all those whose fate is bound to the Earth.
The Institute is dedicated to promoting deep philosophical reflections, scholarly research, theoretical analysis and grounded political action to advance this idea. We see our efforts as part of a larger movement grounded in relational politics, advocating for the rights of nature and supporting indigenous and marginalized communities in their struggles for justice. Our work is informed by an animistic and earth-centered cosmology and a belief in the necessity and historical validity of direct action for social and political change.
If you would like to get involved, have content you would like to contribute, or want more information about the Institute, please contact us below.
