This is a book about how politics, government - and much else - needs to change in response to the transition from the Holocene to the Anthropocene. The Holocene is the last 12,000 years of unusual stability in the Earth system. The Anthropocene is the emerging epoch of human-caused instability in the system and its life-support capacities. Dominant institutions such as states, markets, and international organizations that developed in the late Holocene are no longer fit for purpose, and need to develop a capacity to transform themselves in response to a changing Earth system. The analysis is developed in the context of issues such as climate change, biodiversity, and global efforts to address sustainability.

Author Biography

John S. Dryzek is Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and Centenary Professor in the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra. He is best known for his contributions in democratic theory and practice and environmental politics. He is co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Deliberative Democracy (2018) and The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society (2011), and the author of many books, including The Politics of the Earth (3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 2013). Jonathan Pickering is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra. His research focuses on global environmental governance, climate ethics and policy, and deliberative democracy. His research has been published in a range of journals including Climate Policy, Ecological Economics, Global Environmental Politics, International Environmental Agreements, and World Development.