TY - BOOK ID - 96666400 TI - Mastery of non-mastery in the age of meltdown PY - 2021 SN - 022669870X 9780226684581 022668458X 022669867X 9780226698670 9780226698700 PB - Chicago University of Chicago Press DB - UniCat KW - Human ecology KW - Nature and civilization KW - Civilization, Modern KW - Human ecology in art KW - Philosophy KW - D. H. Lawrence. KW - Georges Bataille. KW - Marcel Proust. KW - Walter Benjamin. KW - climate change. KW - collapse. KW - metaphor. KW - mimicry. KW - nature. KW - performance art. KW - Twenty-first century KW - Civilization and nature KW - Civilization KW - E-books KW - Human ecology - Philosophy KW - Civilization, Modern - 21st century UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:96666400 AB - For centuries, humans have excelled at mimicking nature in order to exploit it. Now, with the existential threat of global climate change on the horizon, the ever-provocative Michael Taussig asks what function a newly invigorated mimetic faculty might exert along with such change. Mastery of Non-Mastery in the Age of Meltdown is not solely a reflection on our condition but also a theoretical effort to reckon with the impulses that have fed our relentless ambition for dominance over nature. Taussig seeks to move us away from the manipulation of nature and reorient us to different metaphors and sources of inspiration to develop a new ethical stance toward the world. His ultimate goal is to undo his readers' sense of control and engender what he calls "mastery of non-mastery." This unique book developed out of Taussig's work with peasant agriculture and his artistic practice, which brings performance art together with aspects of ritual. Through immersive meditations on Walter Benjamin, D. H. Lawrence, Emerson, Bataille, and Proust, Taussig grapples with the possibility of collapse and with the responsibility we bear for it. ER -