Perspectives on the Anthropocene (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Anthropocene: A Critical Exploration
The Anthropocene is everywhere in academia. There are Anthropocene journals, Anthropocene courses, Anthropocene conferences, Anthropocene panels, Anthropocene podcasts, and more. It is very safe to say that the Anthropocene is having a moment. But is this just a case of fifteen minutes of fame, name recognition, and bandwagon style publishing? The authors in this issue of ARES think not, and we would like to help lend a critical sensibility to the anthropological consideration of the concept and its dissemination.
PERSPECTIVES IN THE ANTHROPOCENE: Beyond Nature and Culture?
Itinerari: LIX, 2020
The contributions collected in this volume compare the views of phi- losophers, literary and cultural theorists, and political philosophers, con- cerning what in recent years has become a much discussed issue: the Anthropocene. Although there are no longer any doubts about the reality of this new era, understood as the epoch of signi cant human impacts on the planet, a wide and controversial debate has developed around the use of this term and on the de nition to be given to it. The Anthropocene cannot only be understood as the perpetuation of an anthropogenic and anthropocentric perspective, it can also give rise to a critical paradigm of inquiry into a series of problems such as climate and geological changes produced by humans. The complexity of the notion of Anthropocene can also be defined as a semi-empty signifer, which is once of the most interesting and stimulating aspects of the Anthropocene, one that invites and stimulates us, sometimes even provocatively, to imagine different scenarios and ho- rizons as alternatives to the present. The contributions collected here speak to this richness and breadth, and also to the “irritating” nature of this term, Anthropocene.
Why the Anthropocene Has No History: Facing the Unprecedented, The Anthropocene Review 4:3 (2017)
The Anthropocene Review, 2017
This essay argues that the tendency to invoke modern historical thinking in trying to make sense of the Anthropocene amounts to an untenable, self-contradictory, and self-defeating enterprise. There is a fundamental contradiction between the prospect of unprecedented change as entailed by the Anthropocene and the deep continuity of a processual historical change. On the one hand, conceiving the Anthropocene as the prospect of the unprecedented creates a demand for immediate action to prevent future catastrophe. On the other hand, pointing out the inequalities in the historical process of bringing about the Anthropocene creates a demand for social justice. Although both are legitimate and important demands, they are incompatible. They represent different temporalities, different conceptions of change, and different modes of action. Inasmuch as the Anthropocene appears as unprecedented, it does not have a processual history; and inasmuch as it has a processual history, it is not the Anthropocene.
The Question Concerning the Anthropocene (2016)
Public lecture delivered to a general audience at Yachay Tech, 3 March 2016. A second part is intended, and will hopefully follow in the next few days. It really represents the starting point of an argument that will be developed further in another, forthcoming text.
Introduction: The Growing Anthropocene Consensus
Altered Earth: Getting the Anthropocene Right, 2022
This book aims to get the Anthropocene right in three senses. First, it conveys the scientific evidence of our altered Earth, showcasing how the concept of the Anthropocene captures the magnitude and complexity of the planet's dangerous transformation. Second, we try to get the Anthropocene right in human terms, exploring the kaleidoscope of experiences, contingencies, and decisions that led to the Anthropocene, from the deep history of our relationship with infectious diseases to recent nuclear disasters. These histories are echoed and expanded through fiction with two short stories bringing the vast scales of geology and Earth System science "to earth" in emotional and ethical terms, especially around the issues of colonialism and inequality. Finally, we talk about what hope might look like in this pretty hopeless situation, proposing mutualistic cities, greater equity, and new political forms. "Right" in this book means being as accurate as possible in describing
Unpacking the Anthropocene: The Good, the Evil and the Critical Reading
Graz Law Working Paper Series, 2023
Regular heat waves and draughts in the Mediterranean, hurricanes near coasts, frequent floods worldwide, drastic temperature increases in the Arctic, melting ice on the polar caps, dwindling glaciers, dying coral reefs, mass extinction of animal and plant species, acidified oceans, polluted groundwater and, in the end, the threat of the annihilation of the human species – all these catastrophic events and scenarios are related to the concept of the Anthropocene: the age of humans has begun with their extinction on the horizon. This paper gives a brief systematic overview of the very diverse and lively discourse surrounding the emphatic term Anthropocene and seeks to outline its roots and understanding in some detail. In doing so, this text presents three possible readings of Anthropocene: Good, Evil, and Critical Anthropocene.
Interrogating the Anthropocene: Truth and Fallacy
Great Transition Initiative , 2021
The Anthropocene proposition has rippled far from its scientific discourse to jolt the larger cultural zeitgeist. The idea that human activity has catapulted Earth into a new geological epoch has sparked reconsideration of who we are, where we are going, and how we must act. If we care about building a decent future, how should we think about the Anthropocene? What are the resonances and dissonances with the cultural and political project of a “great transition” to a viable civilization?
This paper looks at why many people are not hearing or listening to the experts, "us," when we argue for more efforts to protect the environment, slow the extirpation of other species, slow the extinction events of other species, slow the carbonization and acidification of the oceans, loss of polar ice, and the many other environmental concerns important to the continuation of life as we know it on our earth. It suggests that scientists, "again us," might share some culpability for the mitigated strength of our voices as we warn others of the dangers ahead.