New book by UWE’s Dr Stephen Hunt explores land, liberation, and ecology

Author Anna Jones | Posted on
Book cover of We Must Begin with the Land by Stephen E. Hunt, placed among green gooseberry leaves. A hand holds a bunch of crops beneath the title: “Seeking Abundance and Liberation Through Social Ecology”.

We’re excited to share that We Must Begin with the Land – a new book by Dr Stephen E. Hunt, Senior Learning Developer (Business and Law) at UWE Bristol – has just been published by Zer0 Books. The title has been added to the UWE Library catalogue and may become a valuable resource for students and staff across a range of programmes.

In this timely and thought-provoking publication, Stephen examines how we grow, share and eat food – not just as a practical issue, but as a political, ecological, and philosophical one.

About the author

Stephen is a writer, ecological activist and radical historian. He holds a PhD in English Literature (Romantic Ecology) from UWE Bristol and continues to contribute to the field of environmental humanities. His previous works include The Revolutionary Urbanism of Street Farm and a co-edited Bloomsbury collection on ecological solidarity and the Kurdish freedom movement.

A social ecology of food and farming

Framed through the anti-colonial lens of social ecology, We Must Begin with the Land explores how communities – from Wiltshire to Rojava – are reclaiming the way we think about agriculture and abundance.

Through real-world case studies and radical theory, Stephen touches on:

  • Food sovereignty movements like La Via Campesina
  • Indigenous knowledge and ecological traditions
  • The promise of hemp, fungi, and seaweed in sustainable material science
  • Refugee-led urban growing communities
  • The surprising rise of Japanese Shumei cultivation in rural England

As described by reviewer Dr Clémence Scalbert Yücel (University of Exeter), “This is a rich and nourishing work written by someone passionate about good food – good for the people, for the planet, for society.”

A must-read for changemakers

This book offers fresh insight for those interested in agroecology, ecological democracy, and sustainable futures. “A must-read for social movements struggling for emancipatory agroecologies radical ecological democracy, and food justice,” says Professor Michel Pimbert (Coventry University).

Explore the book

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