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In her book Reinventing Eden: The Fate of Nature in Western Culture, Carolyn Merchant provides
a fascinating insight into the cultural roots of the optimistic and pessimistic human attitudes to
environmental challenges (like those associated with the Anthropocene). In the context of Judeo-
Christian discussions of the creation of the Garden of Eden, Merchant argues that the human
expulsion from the Garden has at one level become synonymous with the start of a process of human
development and betterment that is gradually transforming wilderness back into a productive garden
(the so-called Recovery Narrative). Others see the human mastery of nature as a negative trajectory,
resulting in the loss of original nature and ecological wisdom (the so-called declensionist, or slide-
down, narrative). Crucially, while moving in opposite directions, Merchant sees these two narratives
(one of enlightened human progress, the other of deep green environmental care) as encompassing
stories of environmental recovery (either to a carefully managed garden or a return to a pristine
wilderness). For Merchant it is important to consider stories that may lead in alternative directions
and combine questions of social and ecological justice. On these terms, Merchant's work can be
interpreted to suggest that in the Anthropocene there may be more future alternatives open to us
than ones that point either to the creation of a world that is dominated by the needs of humans, or
one that is only concerned with the welfare of nature (see Lorimer, 2012).
Palermo, Sicily (mid-twelfth century)
Source: Wikimedia Creative Commons
Key readings
Lorimer, J. (2012) 'Multinatural geographies for the Anthropocene', Progress in Human Geography36: 593-612
Merchant, C. (2004) Reinventing Eden: The Fate of Nature in Western Culture, Routledge, New York: 1-6
Thomas, K. (1984) Man and Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England 1500-1800, Penguin, London
