Introduction

Science, economics, social sciences, politics and other intellectual currents in public debate, policy and politics are stuck in the reductionist, narrow, disastrously destructive frames of thought of the late 20th century, developed from foundations in colonial-era European thought. This chapter challenges the teleological claim that late neoliberal capitalism was where some 4 billion years of life on Earth was “meant” to arrive at, asserting that maintaining this intellectual monopoly is in the interests of dominant economic and political forces, and very much against those of the human and non-human worlds. Alternative thought, particularly since the hubris-smashing 2007/8 financial crash and the start of the Covid pandemic, is being created at volume, and there is a vast wealth of indigenous thinking to draw on, but these are not escaping narrow bounds of academia and activism. By genre, the chapter situates the book in intellectual history and in practical politics, influenced by the academic field of the history and philosophy of science, intersectional environmentalism and the nexus approach to living systems. It acknowledges New Books Network podcasts’ influence and introduces the author, Natalie Bennett, situating her as a member of the UK House of Lords, and Australian-born Green politician and thinker.