Introduction

This chapter introduces the book’s four main themes. The first issue is today’s ecological crisis. The chapter outlines the latest natural scientific studies of the Anthropocene and Earth system. The second issue is the democratic crisis, which is created by the environmental disaster. Here, the idea of ecological democracy of the field of green political theory is introduced. Also, it is explained how ecological democracy can serve as an adequate approach to today’s ecological crisis, especially based on the all ecologically affected principle. Third, the chapter introduces non-anthropocentric accounts of critical theory. Then, the chapter tries to show how present non-anthropocentric critical theorists can contribute to the further development of ecological democracy. The idea of the metaphysics of realism can move critical theory beyond anthropocentrism. Consequently, similar to some green political theorists, critical theorists can defend non-anthropocentrism. Finally, the chapter explains that the book builds further on ecophenomenology, deep ecology, and animism. These standpoints are adopted by some green political theorists and non-anthropocentric critical theorists.