Postenvironmentalism. A Material Semiotic Perspective on Living Spaces

This book is inspired by the work of environmentalist collectives that make their best, every day, to turn ordinary places into “living spaces.” I am greatly indebted to Juliet Jane Fall for the friendly encouragement and the insightful suggestions. For sharing with me the joy of thinking through environmental politics, and the difficult task of making things public, I want to thank Eloisa Cristiani and Marco Frey, together with Barbara Henry, who supported my very first steps into the post-environmentalist theory. I had the pleasure of working with them at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, which offered me the opportunity to conduct my research in an intellectually vibrant community. In developing my work, I have been very much inspired by conversations with Christof Mauch and Helmut Thrischler at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, where I experienced the pleasure of enjoying high-level research in environmental humanities. Steve Hinchliffe, Doreen Massey, Nick Bingham, and the colleagues at The Open University introduced me to the world of material semiotics, by challenging all my previous beliefs about environmental politics. I explored most of the topics addressed in this book with enthusiastic collaboration with Luca Colombo, Pascal Acot, Francesco Rizzi, Massimo Battaglia, Silvia Cioli, and Luca D’Eusebio; they provided me with fresh perspectives and cases to work upon. The series editors Sara Doskow and Chris Robinson at Palgrave Macmillan have been extremely supportive in the entire managing process, together with the editors Brenda Black and Kirsten Saliste. Thanks to all. Pictures 1.2 and 5.3 have been kindly offered by my friend Alessandro Pozzi and by Zappata Romana, while picture 6.1 is an art piece by my daughter Allegra Guerrazzi. Special thanks to all of them. Moreover, I’m lucky to share part of my life with special people who have taught me what it practically means “to go beyond the end.” Particularly, I owe a lot to my friends at the environmental associations ASUD. Ecologia e Cooperazione, and Legambiente and to the communard companions from La Comune di Bagnaia (and its friends). Last but not least, I thank my family for its unconditional support.