Environing Media

This edited volume explores the role of media technologies in shaping environments, both physical and epistemological. It argues that the intensification and acceleration of scaling up the human imprint on the planet by technological means are key factors in the global ecological crisis. The book offers a novel approach to human-Earth histories that demonstrates how technologies have mediated between humans and environments, contributing to a societal feedback loop between knowing and doing environment. It is a valuable resource for scholars and upper-level students in environmental humanities and media studies.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 184 pages
Publication date: 22 August 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This edited volume delves into the profound impact of media technologies on the formation of environments, encompassing both physical spaces and the epistemological constructs surrounding them. By adopting the concept of 'environing media,' the book aims to enhance our understanding of how media processes, which encompass the storage, processing, and transmission of data, shape human-Earth relations. It is alarming to note that virtually all aspects of the interconnected global ecological crisis can be traced back to the intensification and acceleration of scaling up the human imprint on the planet through technological means.

Environing Media, a groundbreaking work, combines ideas from the humanities, arts, and humanistic social sciences to offer a unique perspective on how we entered the current geological epoch, known as the Anthropocene. The book's ten chapters explore diverse environing media, including colonial, planetary, and elemental aspects, with case studies encompassing indigenous history, ocean monitoring, computational history, climate modeling, environmental history, the air as a medium, the biosphere, and the Earth system.

Drawing upon a wealth of examples and expertise from history, anthropology, geography, cultural history, science and technology studies, and media studies, Environing Media unveils a novel approach to human-Earth histories. It demonstrates how technologies have mediated between humans and environments, contributing to a societal feedback loop between knowledge and action in the environment. This reciprocal relationship influences each other, shaping the trajectory of our relationship with the natural world.

Environing Media is a valuable resource for scholars and upper-level students in environmental humanities and media studies. The Open Access version of chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 is available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003282891, with chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. This allows for widespread access and dissemination of knowledge, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and promoting a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between media technologies and environments.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032253824