From Henry David Thoreau to Bill McKibben, critics and philosophers have long sought to demonstra... more From Henry David Thoreau to Bill McKibben, critics and philosophers have long sought to demonstrate how a sufficient life—one without constant, environmentally damaging growth—might still be rich and satisfying. Yet one crucial episode in the history of sufficiency has been largely forgotten. Green Victorians tells the story of a circle of men and women in the English Lake District who attempted to create a new kind of economy, turning their backs on Victorian consumer society in order to live a life dependent not on material abundance and social prestige but on artful simplicity and the bonds of community.
At the center of their social experiment was the charismatic art critic and political economist John Ruskin. Albritton and Albritton Jonsson show how Ruskin’s followers turned his theory into practice in a series of ambitious local projects ranging from hand spinning and woodworking to gardening, archaeology, and pedagogy. This is a lively yet unsettling story, for there was a dark side to Ruskin’s community as well—racist thinking, paternalism, and technophobia. Richly illustrated, Green Victorians breaks new ground, connecting the ideas and practices of Ruskin’s utopian community with the problems of ethical consumption then and now.
Christopher Otter, Ohio State University "This highly original, absorbing, and beautifully written work rethinks Ruskin by anchoring his thought, and that of his friends and associates, in their daily routines, showing how a style of thought we might call “ecological” emerged through prosaic practices. But it also shows the difficulties inherent in creating such a style of thought, and the complexities and compromises that emerged alongside ecological thinking. The issues raised in this book, vital today, will become only more significant in the future."
Mark Frost, University of Portsmouth "Green Victorians provides a welcome exploration of an important but overlooked aspect of British environmental history. A valuable addition to the recent upsurge of interest in Ruskin's sociocultural work and legacies, it also brilliantly revises the history of environmentalism, making a powerful case for tracing the roots of modern ideas on sustainability, low growth, and artisanship to John Ruskin and his lakeland disciples. This is a Victorian book for the Anthropocene."
Julia Adeney Thomas, University of Notre Dame "Green Victorians traces the critique of consumer society and the fossil fuel economy to John Ruskin’s circle in England’s Lake District. There among the hills, the erratic, brilliant art historian and an idiosyncratic band of visionaries including London barrister Albert Fleming, the charismatic Coniston gardener Susanna Beever, and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley tried to revive handicraft production and simpler modes of life divorced from consumerism. This bracing story, eloquently told, traces the allure of the ‘culture of sufficiency’ and its downfall. A joy to read as well as an edgy political challenge, Green Victorians looks at the past with an eye to our future."
Mark Fiege, Colorado State University “Here is a remarkable and prescient recovery of a forgotten moment when a group of people tried to reenvision what it means to be modern. Their struggles to achieve what the authors call a ‘culture of sufficiency’ remind us of the enduring need for all people to live fulfilling lives without laying waste to the planet. Thoughtful, beautifully written, and profoundly unsettling, this is a model history suited to the new epoch in which we find ourselves.”
The concept of the Anthropocene has been gaining public and scholarly recognition in recent years... more The concept of the Anthropocene has been gaining public and scholarly recognition in recent years, although both its scientific legitimacy and broader social meaning remain controversial. As a physical concept it describes the new scale of anthropogenic changes in the geology and ecology of the planetary system, including the extinction of species, the melting of the polar ice caps, the rise of the oceans, and shifts in precipitation patterns. One influential definition of the Anthropocene sees climate change as part of a much wider pattern of overshoot caused by the ecological impact of consumer society, a process that threatens the “planetary boundaries” that maintain human societies in a “safe operating space.” The concept of the Anthropocene thus has an explicitly ethical and historical dimension. It invites us to reevaluate deeply held ideas about the character of modern society and the place of humanity in the natural world. This chapter, drawn from our new book Green Victorians: the Simple Life in John Ruskin’s Lake District (University of Chicago Press, 2016) considers the problem of the Anthropocene from the perspective of a late Victorian utopian movement. Green Victorians tells the story of the first “post-carbon” society in Britain, a community in the English Lake District dedicated to Arts and Crafts industry and simple living. This experiment was galvanized by precocious anxieties about anthropogenic climate change, voiced by the eccentric polymath John Ruskin. He convinced his supporters to reject coal and steam in favor of renewable energy and labor-intensive handicraft production. By creating a new culture of sufficiency, Ruskin and his followers sought to demonstrate that a simple material life was still compatible with a great measure of cultural creativity and intellectual freedom. Green Victorians explores the radical and material experience of Ruskin’s community without shying away from the darker side of the movement, including its technophobia and paternalism.
The concept of the Anthropocene has been gaining public and scholarly recognition in recent years... more The concept of the Anthropocene has been gaining public and scholarly recognition in recent years, although both its scientific legitimacy and broader social meaning remain controversial. As a physical concept it describes the new scale of anthropogenic changes in the geology, chemistry, and ecology of the planetary system, including the extinction of species, the melting of the polar ice caps, the rise of the oceans, and shifts in precipitation patterns. One influential definition of the Anthropocene sees climate change as part of a much wider pattern of overshoot caused by the ecological impact of consumer society, a process that threatens the “planetary boundaries” that maintain human societies in a “safe operating space.” The concept of the Anthropocene thus has an explicitly ethical, political, and historical dimension. It invites us to reevaluate deeply held ideas about the character of modern society and the place of humanity in the natural world. This chapter, drawn from our new book Green Victorians: the Simple Life in John Ruskin’s Lake District (University of Chicago Press, 2016) considers the problem of the Anthropocene from the perspective of a late Victorian utopian movement. Green Victorians tells the story of the first “post-carbon” society in Britain, a community in the English Lake District dedicated to Arts and Crafts industry and simple living. This experiment was galvanized by precocious anxieties about anthropogenic climate change, voiced by the eccentric polymath John Ruskin. He convinced his supporters to reject coal and steam in favor of renewable energy and labor-intensive handicraft production. By creating a new culture of sufficiency and "slow living," Ruskin and his followers sought to demonstrate that a simple material life was still compatible with a great measure of cultural creativity and intellectual freedom. Green Victorians explores the radical and material experience of Ruskin’s community without shying away from the darker side of the movement, including its technophobia and paternalism.
From Henry David Thoreau to Bill McKibben, critics and philosophers have long sought to demonstra... more From Henry David Thoreau to Bill McKibben, critics and philosophers have long sought to demonstrate how a sufficient life—one without constant, environmentally damaging growth—might still be rich and satisfying. Yet one crucial episode in the history of sufficiency has been largely forgotten. Green Victorians tells the story of a circle of men and women in the English Lake District who attempted to create a new kind of economy, turning their backs on Victorian consumer society in order to live a life dependent not on material abundance and social prestige but on artful simplicity and the bonds of community.
At the center of their social experiment was the charismatic art critic and political economist John Ruskin. Albritton and Albritton Jonsson show how Ruskin’s followers turned his theory into practice in a series of ambitious local projects ranging from hand spinning and woodworking to gardening, archaeology, and pedagogy. This is a lively yet unsettling story, for there was a dark side to Ruskin’s community as well—racist thinking, paternalism, and technophobia. Richly illustrated, Green Victorians breaks new ground, connecting the ideas and practices of Ruskin’s utopian community with the problems of ethical consumption then and now.
Christopher Otter, Ohio State University "This highly original, absorbing, and beautifully written work rethinks Ruskin by anchoring his thought, and that of his friends and associates, in their daily routines, showing how a style of thought we might call “ecological” emerged through prosaic practices. But it also shows the difficulties inherent in creating such a style of thought, and the complexities and compromises that emerged alongside ecological thinking. The issues raised in this book, vital today, will become only more significant in the future."
Mark Frost, University of Portsmouth "Green Victorians provides a welcome exploration of an important but overlooked aspect of British environmental history. A valuable addition to the recent upsurge of interest in Ruskin's sociocultural work and legacies, it also brilliantly revises the history of environmentalism, making a powerful case for tracing the roots of modern ideas on sustainability, low growth, and artisanship to John Ruskin and his lakeland disciples. This is a Victorian book for the Anthropocene."
Julia Adeney Thomas, University of Notre Dame "Green Victorians traces the critique of consumer society and the fossil fuel economy to John Ruskin’s circle in England’s Lake District. There among the hills, the erratic, brilliant art historian and an idiosyncratic band of visionaries including London barrister Albert Fleming, the charismatic Coniston gardener Susanna Beever, and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley tried to revive handicraft production and simpler modes of life divorced from consumerism. This bracing story, eloquently told, traces the allure of the ‘culture of sufficiency’ and its downfall. A joy to read as well as an edgy political challenge, Green Victorians looks at the past with an eye to our future."
Mark Fiege, Colorado State University “Here is a remarkable and prescient recovery of a forgotten moment when a group of people tried to reenvision what it means to be modern. Their struggles to achieve what the authors call a ‘culture of sufficiency’ remind us of the enduring need for all people to live fulfilling lives without laying waste to the planet. Thoughtful, beautifully written, and profoundly unsettling, this is a model history suited to the new epoch in which we find ourselves.”
The concept of the Anthropocene has been gaining public and scholarly recognition in recent years... more The concept of the Anthropocene has been gaining public and scholarly recognition in recent years, although both its scientific legitimacy and broader social meaning remain controversial. As a physical concept it describes the new scale of anthropogenic changes in the geology and ecology of the planetary system, including the extinction of species, the melting of the polar ice caps, the rise of the oceans, and shifts in precipitation patterns. One influential definition of the Anthropocene sees climate change as part of a much wider pattern of overshoot caused by the ecological impact of consumer society, a process that threatens the “planetary boundaries” that maintain human societies in a “safe operating space.” The concept of the Anthropocene thus has an explicitly ethical and historical dimension. It invites us to reevaluate deeply held ideas about the character of modern society and the place of humanity in the natural world. This chapter, drawn from our new book Green Victorians: the Simple Life in John Ruskin’s Lake District (University of Chicago Press, 2016) considers the problem of the Anthropocene from the perspective of a late Victorian utopian movement. Green Victorians tells the story of the first “post-carbon” society in Britain, a community in the English Lake District dedicated to Arts and Crafts industry and simple living. This experiment was galvanized by precocious anxieties about anthropogenic climate change, voiced by the eccentric polymath John Ruskin. He convinced his supporters to reject coal and steam in favor of renewable energy and labor-intensive handicraft production. By creating a new culture of sufficiency, Ruskin and his followers sought to demonstrate that a simple material life was still compatible with a great measure of cultural creativity and intellectual freedom. Green Victorians explores the radical and material experience of Ruskin’s community without shying away from the darker side of the movement, including its technophobia and paternalism.
The concept of the Anthropocene has been gaining public and scholarly recognition in recent years... more The concept of the Anthropocene has been gaining public and scholarly recognition in recent years, although both its scientific legitimacy and broader social meaning remain controversial. As a physical concept it describes the new scale of anthropogenic changes in the geology, chemistry, and ecology of the planetary system, including the extinction of species, the melting of the polar ice caps, the rise of the oceans, and shifts in precipitation patterns. One influential definition of the Anthropocene sees climate change as part of a much wider pattern of overshoot caused by the ecological impact of consumer society, a process that threatens the “planetary boundaries” that maintain human societies in a “safe operating space.” The concept of the Anthropocene thus has an explicitly ethical, political, and historical dimension. It invites us to reevaluate deeply held ideas about the character of modern society and the place of humanity in the natural world. This chapter, drawn from our new book Green Victorians: the Simple Life in John Ruskin’s Lake District (University of Chicago Press, 2016) considers the problem of the Anthropocene from the perspective of a late Victorian utopian movement. Green Victorians tells the story of the first “post-carbon” society in Britain, a community in the English Lake District dedicated to Arts and Crafts industry and simple living. This experiment was galvanized by precocious anxieties about anthropogenic climate change, voiced by the eccentric polymath John Ruskin. He convinced his supporters to reject coal and steam in favor of renewable energy and labor-intensive handicraft production. By creating a new culture of sufficiency and "slow living," Ruskin and his followers sought to demonstrate that a simple material life was still compatible with a great measure of cultural creativity and intellectual freedom. Green Victorians explores the radical and material experience of Ruskin’s community without shying away from the darker side of the movement, including its technophobia and paternalism.
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Books by Vicky Albritton
At the center of their social experiment was the charismatic art critic and political economist John Ruskin. Albritton and Albritton Jonsson show how Ruskin’s followers turned his theory into practice in a series of ambitious local projects ranging from hand spinning and woodworking to gardening, archaeology, and pedagogy. This is a lively yet unsettling story, for there was a dark side to Ruskin’s community as well—racist thinking, paternalism, and technophobia. Richly illustrated, Green Victorians breaks new ground, connecting the ideas and practices of Ruskin’s utopian community with the problems of ethical consumption then and now.
Christopher Otter, Ohio State University
"This highly original, absorbing, and beautifully written work rethinks Ruskin by anchoring his thought, and that of his friends and associates, in their daily routines, showing how a style of thought we might call “ecological” emerged through prosaic practices. But it also shows the difficulties inherent in creating such a style of thought, and the complexities and compromises that emerged alongside ecological thinking. The issues raised in this book, vital today, will become only more significant in the future."
Mark Frost, University of Portsmouth
"Green Victorians provides a welcome exploration of an important but overlooked aspect of British environmental history. A valuable addition to the recent upsurge of interest in Ruskin's sociocultural work and legacies, it also brilliantly revises the history of environmentalism, making a powerful case for tracing the roots of modern ideas on sustainability, low growth, and artisanship to John Ruskin and his lakeland disciples. This is a Victorian book for the Anthropocene."
Julia Adeney Thomas, University of Notre Dame
"Green Victorians traces the critique of consumer society and the fossil fuel economy to John Ruskin’s circle in England’s Lake District. There among the hills, the erratic, brilliant art historian and an idiosyncratic band of visionaries including London barrister Albert Fleming, the charismatic Coniston gardener Susanna Beever, and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley tried to revive handicraft production and simpler modes of life divorced from consumerism. This bracing story, eloquently told, traces the allure of the ‘culture of sufficiency’ and its downfall. A joy to read as well as an edgy political challenge, Green Victorians looks at the past with an eye to our future."
Mark Fiege, Colorado State University
“Here is a remarkable and prescient recovery of a forgotten moment when a group of people tried to reenvision what it means to be modern. Their struggles to achieve what the authors call a ‘culture of sufficiency’ remind us of the enduring need for all people to live fulfilling lives without laying waste to the planet. Thoughtful, beautifully written, and profoundly unsettling, this is a model history suited to the new epoch in which we find ourselves.”
Papers by Vicky Albritton
At the center of their social experiment was the charismatic art critic and political economist John Ruskin. Albritton and Albritton Jonsson show how Ruskin’s followers turned his theory into practice in a series of ambitious local projects ranging from hand spinning and woodworking to gardening, archaeology, and pedagogy. This is a lively yet unsettling story, for there was a dark side to Ruskin’s community as well—racist thinking, paternalism, and technophobia. Richly illustrated, Green Victorians breaks new ground, connecting the ideas and practices of Ruskin’s utopian community with the problems of ethical consumption then and now.
Christopher Otter, Ohio State University
"This highly original, absorbing, and beautifully written work rethinks Ruskin by anchoring his thought, and that of his friends and associates, in their daily routines, showing how a style of thought we might call “ecological” emerged through prosaic practices. But it also shows the difficulties inherent in creating such a style of thought, and the complexities and compromises that emerged alongside ecological thinking. The issues raised in this book, vital today, will become only more significant in the future."
Mark Frost, University of Portsmouth
"Green Victorians provides a welcome exploration of an important but overlooked aspect of British environmental history. A valuable addition to the recent upsurge of interest in Ruskin's sociocultural work and legacies, it also brilliantly revises the history of environmentalism, making a powerful case for tracing the roots of modern ideas on sustainability, low growth, and artisanship to John Ruskin and his lakeland disciples. This is a Victorian book for the Anthropocene."
Julia Adeney Thomas, University of Notre Dame
"Green Victorians traces the critique of consumer society and the fossil fuel economy to John Ruskin’s circle in England’s Lake District. There among the hills, the erratic, brilliant art historian and an idiosyncratic band of visionaries including London barrister Albert Fleming, the charismatic Coniston gardener Susanna Beever, and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley tried to revive handicraft production and simpler modes of life divorced from consumerism. This bracing story, eloquently told, traces the allure of the ‘culture of sufficiency’ and its downfall. A joy to read as well as an edgy political challenge, Green Victorians looks at the past with an eye to our future."
Mark Fiege, Colorado State University
“Here is a remarkable and prescient recovery of a forgotten moment when a group of people tried to reenvision what it means to be modern. Their struggles to achieve what the authors call a ‘culture of sufficiency’ remind us of the enduring need for all people to live fulfilling lives without laying waste to the planet. Thoughtful, beautifully written, and profoundly unsettling, this is a model history suited to the new epoch in which we find ourselves.”