Rivers of the Anthropocene

by Jason M. Kelly (Editor), Philip Scarpino (Editor), Helen Berry (Editor), James Syvitski (Editor), Michel Meybeck (Editor)

Overview

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This exciting volume presents the work and research of the Rivers of the Anthropocene Network, an international collaborative group of scientists, social scientists, humanists, artists, policy makers, and community organizers working to produce innovative transdisciplinary research on global freshwater systems. In an attempt to bridge disciplinary divides, the essays in this volume address the challenge in studying the intersection of biophysical and human sociocultural systems in the age of the Anthropocene, a new geological epoch of humans' own making. Featuring contributions from authors in a rich diversity of disciplines—from toxicology to archaeology to philosophy—this book is an excellent resource for students and scholars studying both freshwater systems and the Anthropocene. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520295025
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	11/17/2017
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Jason M. Kelly is Director of the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute and Associate Professor of History at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis.
 
Philip Scarpino is Director of the Public History Program and Professor of History at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis.
 
Helen Berry is Reader in British History and Dean of Postgraduate Studies at Newcastle University.
 
James Syvitski is Executive Director of the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System and Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.
 
Michel Meybeck is Emeritus Senior Scientist at the French National Center for Scientific Research and at the METIS laboratory at the University Pierre and Marie Curie (Paris 6).

Table of Contents

List of Figures vii

Foreword xi

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xxvii

1 Anthropocenes: A Fractured Picture Jason M. Kelly 1

Part 1 Methods

2 Ecosystem Service-Based Approaches for Status Assessment of Anthropocene Riverscapes Andy Large David Gilvear Eleanor Starkey 23

3 Political Ecology in the Anthropocene: A Case Study of Irrigation Management in the Blue Nile Basin Sina Marx 43

4 Rivers at the End of the End of Nature: Ethical Trajectories of the Anthropocene Grand Narrative Celia Deane-Drummond 55

5 Rivers, Scholars, and Society: A Situation Analysis Kenneth S. Lubinski Martin Thoms 63

Part 2 Histories

6 An Anthropocene Landscape: Drainage Transformed in the English Fenland Jan Zalasiewicz Mark Williams Dinah Smith 75

7 A Western European River in the Anthropocene: The Seine, 1870-2010 Michel Meybeck Laurence Lestel 84

8 Anthropocene World/Anthropocene Waters: A Historical Examination of Ideas and Agency Philip V. Scarpino 101

Part 3 Experiences

9 The Great Tyne Flood of 1771: Community Responses to an Environmental Crisis in the Early Anthropocene Helen Berry 119

10 Engineering an Island City-State: A 3D Ethnographic Comparison of the Singapore River and Orchard Road Stephanie C. Kane 135

11 Decoding the River: Artists and Scientists Reveal the Water System of the White River Mary Miss Tim Carter 150

12 What Is a River? The Chicago River as Hyperobject Matt Edgeworth Jeffrey Benjamin 162

Bibliography 177

Contributors 203

Index 209

Editorial Reviews

"This book would be a stimulating choice for a graduate seminar bringing in students and fac- ulty from all across the university to discuss the multiple ways in which we see and value rivers (or other ecosystems, for that matter), and how we might best recognize those multiple viewpoints."

Basic and Applied Ecology