Staying with the Trouble

1. Staying with the Trouble Requires Making Kin

Our task is to make trouble, to stir up potent response to devastating events, as well as to settle troubled waters and rebuild quiet places.

Response-ability is key. The central theme of the book is the need to confront the overwhelming challenges of our time, not by seeking escapist solutions or succumbing to despair, but by learning to "stay with the trouble." This involves cultivating the capacity to respond to devastating events with potent action, while also working to rebuild and nurture quiet places of resilience.

Kin as a wild category. The concept of "kin" is expanded beyond traditional definitions of family to encompass a broader network of relationships, including those with non-human beings. This "making kin" is not about domesticating the wild, but about recognizing and embracing the interconnectedness of all living things.

Oddkin over Godkin. The book advocates for making "oddkin" rather than relying on traditional notions of "godkin" or genealogical family. This shift emphasizes responsibility to those with whom we are connected through shared struggles and mutual dependence, regardless of biological ties.

2. The Chthulucene Offers a Path Beyond the Anthropocene

Living-with and dying-with each other potently in the Chthulucene can be a fierce reply to the dictates of both Anthropos and Capital.

A timeplace for response-ability. The Chthulucene is presented as an alternative to the Anthropocene and Capitalocene, offering a way to learn to live and die in response-ability on a damaged Earth. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of all beings and the need to move beyond human-centered perspectives.

Chthonic ones as earth beings. The "chthonic ones" are described as beings of the Earth, both ancient and up-to-the-minute, full of tentacles, feelers, and unruly hair. They represent the material meaningfulness of Earth processes and critters, and challenge the dominance of sky-gazing Homo.

Rejecting exterminating forces. The Chthulucene is positioned as a fierce reply to the destructive forces of both Anthropos and Capital, which are seen as the latest and most dangerous of the exterminating forces that have plagued the Earth. It is a call to embrace living-with and dying-with each other in a potent and transformative way.

3. Sympoiesis: Making-With, Not Self-Making

The earth of the ongoing Chthulucene is sympoietic, not autopoietic.

Interconnectedness is key. The book challenges the notion of self-making, arguing that nothing exists in isolation. Instead, it proposes the concept of "sympoiesis," which emphasizes the interconnectedness of all things and the importance of making-with others.

Holobionts as symbiotic assemblages. The term "holobiont" is introduced to describe symbiotic assemblages, at whatever scale of space or time. These assemblages are seen as knots of diverse intra-active relatings in dynamic complex systems, rather than as bounded units in interactions.

Symbiogenesis as a life-making process. The book highlights "symbiogenesis," the fusion of genomes in symbioses, as a fundamental life-making process. This process, driven by the long-lasting intimacy of strangers, leads to the evolution of new kinds of cells, tissues, organs, and species.

4. Tentacular Thinking: Embracing Complexity and Connection

We are all lichens.

Beyond bounded individualism. The book argues that bounded individualism, a cornerstone of Western philosophy and political economics, is no longer a viable way of thinking. It calls for a shift towards "tentacular thinking," which embraces complexity, interconnectedness, and the blurring of boundaries.

Tentacularity as a way of life. Tentacularity is described as life lived along lines, not at points, and as a wealth of lines. It involves making attachments and detachments, cuts and knots, and weaving paths and consequences without determinism.

Compost over posthumanism. The book rejects posthumanism, proposing "compost" instead. This shift emphasizes the importance of decay, transformation, and the cyclical nature of life, as well as the potential for human beings to become "humus," workers of and in the soil.

5. Companion Species: Relentless Becoming-With

Companion species are relentlessly becoming-with.

Rejecting human exceptionalism. The category of "companion species" helps to refuse human exceptionalism without invoking posthumanism. It emphasizes the ordinary beings-in-encounter in human-animal worlds.

String figure games. Companion species play "string figure games" where who is/are to be in/of the world is constituted in intra- and interaction. The partners do not precede the knotting; species of all kinds are consequent upon worldly subject- and object-shaping entanglements.

Becoming-with, not becoming. The book emphasizes "becoming-with" rather than "becoming," highlighting the relational nature of existence. Partners in human-animal worlds are rendered capable through their interactions and mutual influence.

6. The Importance of Storytelling and Speculative Fabulation

It matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories.

Stories as world-making forces. The book emphasizes the power of stories to shape our understanding of the world and to create new possibilities for living. It argues that it matters what stories we tell to tell other stories with, and what worlds make stories.

Speculative fabulation as a method. "sf" is presented as a method of tracing, following threads in the dark, and cultivating multispecies justice. It involves promiscuously plucking out fibers in events and practices to track their tangles and patterns.

String figures as practice and process. String figuring is described as passing on and receiving, making and unmaking, picking up threads and dropping them. It is a practice and process of becoming-with each other in surprising relays, a figure for ongoingness in the Chthulucene.

7. Mourning and Remembrance as Essential Practices

Mourning is about dwelling with a loss and so coming to appreciate what it means, how the world has changed, and how we must ourselves change and renew our relationships if we are to move forward from here.

Grief as a path to understanding. The book proposes that mourning is intrinsic to cultivating response-ability. It argues that grief is a path to understanding entangled shared living and dying, and that human beings must grieve-with other beings.

The necessity of remembrance. Without sustained remembrance, we cannot learn to live with ghosts and so cannot think. Like crows, we are at stake in each other's company, living and dead.

Storying place. The book emphasizes the importance of storying place, not just any place, but specific, storied places. It argues that storying cannot any longer be put into the box of human exceptionalism.

8. Science Art Worldings: Enacting Change through Creativity

The collaborations among differently situated people—and peoples—are as crucial as, and enabled by, those between the humans and animals.

Joining science and art. The book highlights the importance of art science worldings as sympoietic practices for living on a damaged planet. These practices involve collaborations among scientists, artists, and community members to create innovative solutions to environmental and social problems.

Differential burdens of urban air pollution. The book examines the differential burdens of urban air pollution, which disproportionately affect working-class people, people of color, and immigrants. It explores how art activism can be used to address these issues.

PigeonBlog as an example. The PigeonBlog project is presented as a case study of art activism in action. The project, which involved enlisting racing pigeons to collect and distribute information about air quality conditions, demonstrates the potential for interspecies collaboration to promote environmental justice.

9. The Dangers of Thoughtlessness and the Need for Curiosity

What is it to surrender the capacity to think?

Thoughtlessness and evil. The book draws on Hannah Arendt's analysis of Adolf Eichmann's inability to think, arguing that this thoughtlessness is a form of evil that can lead to devastating consequences. It suggests that the disaster of the Anthropocene is rooted in a similar kind of thoughtlessness.

The importance of curiosity. The book emphasizes the importance of curiosity as a virtue, drawing on the work of philosopher Vinciane Despret. It argues that curiosity is essential for staying with the trouble and for cultivating response-ability.

Thinking-with other beings. The book advocates for "thinking-with" other beings, human and not, as a way to enlarge our capacities and to move beyond inherited categories and capacities. This involves attending to what beings evoke from and with each other that was truly not there before.

10. The Power of Situated Knowledges and Local Action

The details matter. The details link actual beings to actual response-abilities.

Rejecting universal solutions. The book rejects universalizing approaches to solving environmental and social problems, emphasizing the importance of situated knowledges and local action. It argues that solutions must be tailored to the specific contexts and needs of particular places and communities.

The importance of local knowledge. The book highlights the importance of local knowledge, particularly that of indigenous peoples, in addressing environmental challenges. It argues that indigenous perspectives can offer valuable insights and guidance for staying with the trouble.

The need for collaboration. The book emphasizes the need for collaboration among diverse actors, including scientists, artists, community members, and indigenous peoples, in order to create effective and just solutions to the problems we face.

Last updated: April 8, 2025