The praxis and imaginary of Environmental and Sustainability Education in the Capitalocene

Abstract This introduction to the special edition on the praxis and imaginary of Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) in the Capitalocene focuses on developing an argument about the underpinnings of the Capitalocene to shape our educational response to it. The statement that this article rests upon is that the Capitalocene is the driver of environmental damage on Earth today. Hence, if ESE is to have any impact it must address the Capitalocene as a matter of urgency. The Capitalocene is defined as a recent offshoot of the Anthropocene, wherein the processes of capital have captured the human population and led to the consequent capitalist human society as being primarily responsible for detrimentally altering the environment. To enable change in the Capitalocene, this article investigates the unconscious drives that have created the Anthropocene (and hence the Capitalocene) and invents a novel approach to ESE based on dark theory.