Practising Theory in the Anthropocene A Postcolonial Quest for Reliable Knowledge

Abstract

Why resort to theory at all? William James has an answer which is helpful: "theories are instruments and hooks to interpretation, not answers to enigmas, in which we can rest… Pragmatism unstiffens all our theories, limbers them up and sets each one at work." (James 1907).

Our best guess is that allowing for pluralism, eclecticism, "making do" with the materials we find, and sharing them widely in conversation might actually give us productive results. At least, we can all claim as our common legacy a vast stock of conversational knowledge since antiquity. If nothing else, it sets up a form of democratic practice, which can at least give us the reassurance of having tried.

Keywords: Anthropocene, theory, Latour, William James