Review of "Thinking with soils: Material politics and social theory"

Résumé

Drawing on the pioneering work of Maria Puig de la Bellacasa, the contributors to Thinking with Soils: Material Politics and Social Theory argue that it is time for social scientists to deepen our own understanding of soil. We need to consider how to think with soils and recentre the set of embodied relationships that lie at the heart of this lively world beneath our feet. The only way to confront the ecological crisis we face is to decolonize our narratives of conservation and reimagine it as an ongoing process of socioecological entanglement in which humans and non-humans are active agents. The collection succeeds in prompting deep and meaningful consideration of what it might mean to live into our relationships with soil, and how sustained reflection on the material politics of soil might shift the way we think about and act on the so-called soil crisis.