Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist and Other Essays

A former environmentalist and the creator of the Dark Mountain Project, an online global network of artists and authors, Kingsnorth (Beast; The Wake) states in the introduction to this intriguing title that by 2008 he had stopped believing that the planet could be saved through activism. By then, he was certain that human beings, obsessed with growth and progress and convinced that the universe revolves around them, are unwilling to effect real change. Kingsnorth's disenchantment with the environmental movement is evident; he describes it as "a human-centered piece of politicking disguised as concern for 'the planet.' " The author cites wind farms as an example of an environmentalist half measure: while they don't pollute the atmosphere like fossil fuels, they do destroy otherwise untouched land. At the end of the book, Kingsnorth offers an alternative solution from his website's manifesto Uncivilisation, a challenge to artists and writers to transform the human narrative.