Ailton Krenak Books

"Indigenous leader and activist Ailton Krenak reminds us that we must awaken from the comatose senselessness we have been immersed in since the beginning of the modern colonial project, where order, progress, development, consumerism, and capitalism have taken over our entire existence, leaving us only very partially alive, and, in fact, almost dead. To awaken from the coma of modernity is, for Krenak, to awaken to the possibility of becoming attuned to "the cosmic sense of life." He points out that the COVID-19 pandemic affects all so-called "human" lives and that the time is ripe for us all to reflect on and undo the exclusivity and distinction that have characterized the concept of humanity throughout Western modernity."

"Humanity is facing the greatest environmental disaster of our existence. Global pandemics, extreme weather events, and massive wildfires all define the era that many are now calling the Anthropocene. In the three lectures that comprise Ideas to Postpone the End of the World, renowned Indigenous activist and leader Ailton Krenak argues that the current environmental crisis is rooted in modern society's flawed concept of 'humanity' -- that human beings are superior to any other form of nature and therefore justified to exploit it as we please. As a result, our entire civilization is built upon structures, organizations, and institutions that alienate us from the land, rivers, and trees, and that have forced the marginalization (and sometimes outright elimination) of any community that refuses to abide by these rules. Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas have already faced the end of the world many times before. Now, to stop our collective march towards the abyss, we must reject the homogenizing effect of our human-first perspective and embrace a new idea of 'dreaming,' one that allows us to regain our proper place within nature. Only then may we find new solutions to survive."-- Provided by publisher

In response to the damage caused by centuries of colonial ravaging and the current ecological, political and social crises, the leading Indigenous thinker and activist Ailton Krenak warns against the destructive powers of corporate capitalism and its irreversible impacts. Ancestral Future draws attention to how we are constantly imagining some moment in the past or thinking about what is yet to come rather than living with what subsists around us. Unable to withstand the present, we escape into future imaginings and lose track of our here and now. If there is another kind of future to imagine, then Krenak shows how that future is ancestral, since it was already here, pulsing with the possibilities of connecting with the Earth and its constellations of beings and remembering that rivers, mountains and trees are our kin.

Ein eindringlicher Appell – von einem der wichtigsten indigenen Vordenker Brasiliens Die Menschheit steht vor der globalen Katastrophe. Der brasilianische Umweltaktivist Ailton Krenak sieht den Grund dafür in unserer bisherigen Definition vom Menschen – als Krone der Schöpfung, die berechtigt ist, die Natur nach Belieben auszubeuten. Sein eindringlicher Appell: Um unseren kollektiven Marsch in den Abgrund zu stoppen, müssen wir uns neu orientieren, veraltete Denkmuster loslassen und einen Weg zurück zu unserem Ursprung finden. Dabei helfen uns die verschiedenen kulturellen Auslegungen vom Menschsein, die überall auf dem Planeten zu finden sind. Nur so können wir das Ende der Welt vertagen.