Seminarieserie om antropocen, del 2: What the future holds and why we should bother.

In this seminar, we explore if, and if so, how, the concept remains relevant within the social sciences, despite the recent decision to not declare the Anthropocene an official geological epoch. Why should we keep using the concept? How does it help us describe what is currently happening or imagine what is to become of the planet? Can it help us cope with the consequences of humans' overwhelming impact on the Earth? Offering tentative answers to these questions is also a way to look at how certain assumptions within social sciences are challenged by the Anthropocene, or in other words, to confront ourselves as social scientists: the stories we tell, the heuristics we use, and the reasons we carry out our work.
 
Text: Lövbrand, E., Beck, S., Chilvers, J., Forsyth, T., Hedrén, J., Hulme, M., ... & Vasileiadou, E. (2015). Who speaks for the future of Earth? How critical social science can extend the conversation on the Anthropocene. Global Environmental Change, 32, 211–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.03.012