Care in the Anthropocene: Woman on the Edge of Time

This paper explores the necessity of ecological and universal care through Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time. Piercy critically observes that the current violent White-Patriarchal-Capitalist-Colonial system destroys nature, women, and lives. In contrast, life in Mattapoisett is a sustainable life in harmony with nature, a life of developing competence and caring for each other in a community that ensures safety and belonging. Members of Mattapoisett live with support and recognition without being excluded or isolated from a diverse and wide network of relationships and care. This paper argues that Woman on the Edge of Time re-imagines a community of care based on awareness of fundamental interdependence and relational ontology. With the perception of ourselves in the web of life, the alternative future depicted in Woman on the Edge of Time captures that an ecologically and socially sustainable life is possible only in the transition to a universal and ecological caring society.