Society in the Anthropocene: Theories, Methods, and Action

The notion of Anthropocene “emphasizes the central role of mankind in geology and ecology,” given that “the global effects of human activities have become clearly noticeable” based on evidence from glacial ice core data indicating rising CO2 and CH4 concentrations in the atmosphere (Crutzen and Stoermer 2010: n.p.). But what do social thinkers have to say about this? In this class, we will begin to tackle the meaning of this term (which I will argue is one of the most central intellectual movements in recent years), charting its intellectual history, but also its implications. We will consider the growing emergence of alternative frameworks such as Jason Moore’s World-Ecology, Donna Haraway’s Plantationocene, as well as the racialized aspect of society (let’s not forget gender, or the legacy of socialism either) and how we can consider such social constructions that have had real, material impacts on the lives of people across the world, and through the long history of civilization. But, we will not stop there, as this class proposes that the rise of the Anthropocene does not just raise theoretical concerns, but methodological questions as well. For that reason will consider the very recent interventions of scholars thinking about how sociologists and critical social scientists can incorporate and indeed think differently about the methods they use, given the rampant changes society faces. Finally, we will work though how these changes must promote action in the world, and the strategies that we might begin to deploy to change the world towards a more just society.