This commentary argues that one of the strengths of Dixon et al.'s (2012) paper is the way that it pushes a concern with inhuman entities and processes far beyond any entanglement with human lives. This takes us on a turn – strangely rare in human geography – from life or vitality into the realms of minerality. It is suggested that what makes this possible is the authors' refreshing willingness to explore aesthetic and ontological questions without feeling obliged to immediately demonstrate the political valence of these explorations.
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