The States of the Earth: An Ecological and Racial History of Secularization

by: Mohamed Amer Meziane (Author)

Publisher: Verso Books

Publication Date: 9 April 2024

Language: English

Print Length: 304 pages

ISBN-10: 1804291773

ISBN-13: 9781804291771

Book Description

HOW THE DISENCHANTMENT OF EMPIRE LED TO CLIMATE CHANGEWhile industrial states competed to colonize Asia and Africa in the nineteenth century, conversion to Christianity was replaced by a civilizing mission. This new secular impetus strode hand in hand with racial capitalism in the age of empires: a terrestrial paradise was to be achieved through accumulation and the ravaging of nature.Far from a defence of religion, The States of the Earth argues that phenomena such as evangelism and political Islam are best understood as products of empire and secularization. In a world where material technology was considered divine, religious and secular forces both tried to achieve Heaven on Earth by destroying Earth itself.