Phronesis: shifting the concept of the political in the environmental humanities

This essay examines the concept of the political as it is invoked in the environmental humanities. The critical project of the field involves overcoming the sensory and perceptive limits of enclosure within the realm of the merely human. By theorising new relations to the environment, environmental humanists seek forms of political action that allow humans to inhabit the planet more sustainably. This focus on theoretical wisdom - or sophia - has constrained the field. This essay argues for the value of practical wisdom - or phronesis - as a critical mode more appropriate to the urgent requirements of the Anthropocene.