Podcast Summary: New Books Network — "Cities in the Anthropocene: New Ecology and Urban Politics" with Ihnji Jon

Episode Overview
This episode features Dr. Ihnji Jon, author of Cities in the Anthropocene: New Ecology and Urban Politics (Pluto Press, 2021), interviewed by host Stentor Danielson. The conversation explores how new ecological thinking reshapes urban politics and the practice of environmentalism—especially in politically diverse or resistant city contexts. Dr. Jon shares her research on case studies in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Darwin, Australia; Cleveland, Ohio; and Cape Town, South Africa, focusing on bottom-up approaches to environmental responsibility, the pragmatics of activism, the politics of scale, and the generative power of narrative and infrastructure.

Main Themes and Purpose

• Integration of New Ecology and Urban Politics: The book investigates ways “more-than-human” ecological ideas influence and disrupt traditional urban planning and environmental politics.
• Local Action and Everyday Experience: Dr. Jon emphasizes how grounded, everyday interactions with urban environments shape new sustainability narratives, especially in settings where traditional “green” politics are politically fraught.
• Case Studies as Learning Sites: By focusing on under-discussed cities, the work explores the varied, creative ways inhabitants and practitioners remake environmental practice around local realities.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Dr. Jon's Background and Motivation (02:29–04:53)

• Works as a lecturer in International Urban Politics, focusing on performative politics—how new identities and initiatives emerge in complex urban settings.
• Motivated by a gap in research: ecological theory’s limited application to on-the-ground urban planning.
• Challenges the traditional “Western” top-down view by focusing on the situated, plural, and evolving interactions individuals have with their environments.
  • Quote:
    “I believe in the nobility of how every single individual interact with their situated environments and reinvent their own realities through movement and action.” — Ihnji Jon (03:31)

The "New Ecology" (04:53–06:55)

• Informed by theorists like Bruno Latour, Anna Tsing, Jane Bennett, John Dewey.

• New ecology blurs the human/nature divide, focusing on entanglements and co-evolution.

• Emphasizes responsibility as a daily, grounded practice—actions like water management, waste, disaster planning become central sites of ecological citizenship.

  • Quote:
    “New ecology really asks us about the question of responsibility as a situated and grounded practice, not as a top down or universal norm that we have to accept without question.” — Ihnji Jon (05:44)

Pragmatic Environmentalism in Conservative Cities (07:53–09:51)

• Explored how practitioners sidestep ideological conflicts by using neutral, material language (e.g., “low impact development,” “native landscaping”) rather than “green” or “environment.”
• These strategies connect socioeconomic needs with environmental goals, advancing climate-conscious changes without explicit confrontation.
  • Quote:
    “It's not kind of I'm going to impose my ideas on you, but it's more like persuasion of these kinds of things are really, you know, make you feel good.” — Ihnji Jon (09:16)

Material Roots of Environmental Politics (09:51–12:34)

• Material realities—the dominance of oil and gas industries, for example—profoundly influence urban environmental conflict.
• Even pragmatic, material solutions become possible pathways to climate-conscious outcomes, sometimes without people’s explicit awareness.

Case Study Selection and Rationale (12:34–19:31)

• Tulsa: Notable for disaster resilience planning amidst a conservative, oil-and-gas economy.
• Darwin: Focuses on federal funding tied to natural gas, explores activism in resource-dependent regions.
• Cleveland: Examines how environmental initiatives intersect with stark socioeconomic and spatial divides.
• Cape Town: Looks at spatial segregation, environmental activism, and how local experts and planners frame climate issues.
• Dr. Jon reflects on the role of “inspiration”—encountering unexpected local initiatives and academic works—guiding her comparative methodology.

Bottom-Up Ethics and Policy Translation (21:33–27:13)

• Rejects universalist ethical frameworks in favor of performative, narrative practices rooted in everyday life.
• Advocates for cultural movements—art, infrastructure, story—that translate lived experiences into broader societal momentum, eventually shaping policy.
  • Quote:
    “If you build that movement, how does it translate? How can that be translated into a political action? … the building of…cultural: kind of the atmospheric approach to environmentalism.” — Ihnji Jon (26:04)

Concrete Mechanisms for Environmental Culture (27:34–30:24)

• Three methods identified:

  1. Everyday Infrastructure (e.g., sewer, stormwater systems) as sites for ecological awareness.
  2. Topological Elements: Public art and place-based events highlighting rivers, mountains, etc., foster attachment and awareness (e.g., art exhibitions celebrating the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland).
  3. Built Environment and Design: Architecture/urban space can evoke emotions and shape perceptions of environment.
  • Quote (on public art in Cleveland):
    “[They] invited this international artist … and he kind of did this performative theatrical event about Cuyahoga lighting and really making people aware how our life…is dependent on water and the Cuyahoga River…” — Ihnji Jon (28:33)

Reframing Scale: The Global and the Local (30:24–35:34)

• Argues we should understand “the global” not as an abstract, unreachable scale but as “ubiquitousness”—the pervasive, material conditions (water, air, etc.) connecting local to global.

• Quotes John Dewey: we tackle global issues by starting with our own gardens (i.e., the local).

• Stresses the importance of recognizing shared responsibilities across and between scales, invoking Nancy Fraser’s thinking on “geographies of responsibility.”

  • Quote:
    “Globalness as ubiquitousness, of the things that we interact [with], you know, like the water, air, you know, all of these things are ubiquitous…” — Ihnji Jon (33:13)

Methodological Challenges and Social Inquiry (36:53–42:06)

• Fieldwork built on identifying and connecting with well-networked local actors; snowball sampling in diverse contexts.
• Emphasizes humility and engagement—learning from those “doing the work,” not striving for objective pictures.
• Advocates for research as social inquiry, valuing interaction and the dynamic making of knowledge over static representation.
  • Quote:
    “…Knowledge making is not taking a picture, a static picture of what's going on, but more about interacting with different kinds of people. And that's how you gain the value for your knowledge making.” — Ihnji Jon (41:10)

Current and Future Research (42:20–43:53)

• Ongoing work on post-Western epistemologies (inspired by Anna Tsing), particularly how non-Western, “co-evolutionary” narratives shape urban environmentalism in the Global East and South.
• Investigating how problematic urban situations (e.g., waste, climate events) catalyze collective identity formation and public action across diverse communities.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On New Ecology:
  “It really catches the essentialist division between human or non, human or culture or nature, because it highlights how we are intricately intertwined…” — Ihnji Jon (05:32)
• On Pragmatics:
  “…they had to invent new narratives … that link the immediate socioeconomic needs with more longer term reflected social good…” — Ihnji Jon (08:17)
• On Infrastructure as Culture:
  “…really, cities are centers of intensive material movements…basic infrastructure like electricity, waste water and sewer systems [highlight] how we are dependent on the ecosystem dynamics.” — Ihnji Jon (27:51)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Dr. Jon’s Background and Book’s Genesis: [02:29–04:53]
• Definition and Significance of “New Ecology”: [04:53–06:55]
• Pragmatic Approaches in Conservative Contexts: [07:53–09:51]
• Case Study Urban Politics: [12:34–19:31]
• Everyday Ethics and Policy Change: [21:33–27:13]
• Concrete Examples of Cultural Environmentalism: [27:34–30:24]
• Rethinking Scale – Local-Global Relations: [30:24–35:34]
• Research Process and Challenges: [36:53–42:06]
• Current and Future Projects: [42:20–43:53]

Overall Tone and Style

The conversation is thoughtful and reflective, often exploratory, with Dr. Jon frequently pausing to clarify nuanced arguments and share her intellectual inspirations. The dialogue is collegial, occasionally self-deprecating, as both host and guest grapple with complex, evolving issues in urban environmental politics.

This summary offers a comprehensive overview for listeners seeking to understand Dr. Jon’s arguments and the substance of Cities in the Anthropocene, complete with timestamps and speaker-attributed quotes embedded throughout.