BOOK SUMMARY: Though the scientific community has yet to formally declare the geological period that we live in the Anthropocene, the term has spread throughout both academic and popular culture as a shorthand for the way in which humanity has dominated the earth. Scholars of green political theory have been quick to respond, with works such as John Dryzek and Jonathan Pickering’s The Politics of the Anthropocene and Frank Biermann and Eva Lövbrand’s Anthropocene Encounters: New Directions in Green Political Thinking interrogating what the Anthropocene means from a political theory perspective and rethinking key political concepts in light of the environmental damage it reveals. Anne Fremaux’s book joins this growing sub-field to critique the Anthropocene from a green republican perspective. It is a valuable addition to our understanding of how ‘The Age of Humans’ came about, how the current political response is limited, and what we should be doing instead.

The substantive chapters are mostly focused on a sustained, developed critique of the Anthropocene and the ecomodernist position. Starting with a critique of the current response to the Anthropocene, Fremaux explores the role of capitalism in creating the ecological crisis, critiquing the idea that the Anthropocene was the inevitable result of human activity, and also supports the term Capitalocene (though the critiques of this alternative term could be further discussed). She also counters the ‘end of nature’ thesis and the anthropocentrism inherent in the idea of ‘The Age of Humans’. These chapters also focus on the ecomodernist position, particularly with regard to geo-engineering and the belief that a ‘good’ Anthropocene is possible. With the critique of the Anthropocene and the ecomodernist response established, Fremaux turns to provide her own solutions, including an alternative model of political economy and an argument for a green republican democracy. Drawing on the republican conception of freedom, Fremaux outlines a green republican state that emphasises democratic and localised institutions and could provide support for the political and ethical systems needed to either prevent or limit ecological collapse. Overall, Fremaux seeks to demonstrate, first, the limitations of responses that seek to manage or capitalise the Anthropocene, and second, that green republicanism is capable of grounding and guiding the development of rapidly needed alternative modes.

Contributing to both the growing green political literature on the Anthropocene and to the sub-field of green republicanism, the book is an engaging addition to both, the critique of the ecomodernist position being especially strong. Developing ‘a post-anthropocentric ethical and legal framework’ (p. 150), Fremaux draws on relevant case law and the concept of Wild Law to argue that an ecocentric approach can be implemented and used to challenge the commodification of nature that is integral to the Anthropocene. While Fremaux’s critique adds depth to our understanding of the Anthropocene and the ways of thinking and acting that the term represents, her critique of ecomodernism could have been contrasted with the previous criticisms of this approach in order to better distinguish the account offered here. Though this critique is well done, the green republican response is the strongest aspect of Fremaux’s work. In green republicanism she has identified a valuable resource for thinking through the Anthropocene and to ground an alternative model of politics and economics. The green republican democracy outlined in Chapter 6 and the economy based on green republican principles discussed in Chapter 5 demonstrate the radical possibilities inherent in this approach. Using green republicanism as a lens through which to view the Anthropocene, Fremaux unearths the moral, political and economic fault lines of the environmental crisis, and also shows the continuing relevance of republicanism as a tool for green political theorists. Expanding on these sections would have further demonstrated how an alternative response to the Anthropocene is possible and emphasised the original critical approach that this book offers.

Fremaux’s book offers a provocative critique of ecomodernism and will be of value to all scholars of green republicanism and the Anthropocene, and to those interested in the direction of green political thought in these uncertain times.