From Glenn Albrech, Earth Emotions: New Words for a New World (Cornell University Press), 2019
Week 1
“As a consequence of the new scientific knowledge of symbiotic coexistence, I submit that we actually live in the ‘symbioment’. It is a recognition that, at its foundation, life is all about the sumbios, or ‘the living together’ with each other and other types of beings. Life works with life to further life. The symbioment is now the starting point for how we can think about everything else” (p. 101).Week 2
“The symbiocene, as a period in the history of humanity on this Earth, will be characterized by human intelligence and praxis that replicate the symbiotic and mutually reinforcing life-producing forms and processes found in living systems. This period of human existence will be a positive affirmation of life, and it offers the possibility of the complete reintegration of the human body, psyche, and culture with the rest of life” (p. 102).Week 3
The emergence of new forms of governance that reflect the new symbiotic understanding of the shared project of life is now a possibility. Sumbiocracy is rule for the Earth, so that we might all live together…. ‘Sumbiocracy’ I define as a form of cooperative rule, determined by the type and totality of mutually beneficial or benign relationships, in a given sociobiological system. Sumbiocracy is a form of government where humans govern for all the reciprocal relationships on Earth at all scales, from local to global. Organic form (all biodiversity including humans) and organic processes (symbiotically connected ecosystems and Earth systems) are primary in this new form of government” (p. 106).Week 4
“Soliphilia is the love of the totality of our place relationships, and a willingness to accept the political responsibility for protecting and conserving then at all scales. The concept has its origins in the French solidaire (interdependent) and the Latin solidus (solid or whole), and the love of one’s fellow citizens and neighbors implied by the Greek philia. Soliphilia is manifest in the interdependent solidarity and the wholeness or unity needed between people, to overcome the alienation and disempowerment present in contemporary political decision-making about the symbioment. Soliphilia introduces the notion of political commitment to the saving of loved places at all scales, from the micro, local, and to the global” (p.121-122).
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