Skip to main content

Anthropocene

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

This chapter situates the concept of the Anthropocene in a broad disciplinary spectrum in order to show how it has been used to address some issues of geological and environmental concern while ignoring others. While generally referring to questions of human agency, the term veils whose agency and whose vulnerability, ultimately, are involved in the human activity shaping the planet.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Braje, Todd J. 2015. Earth systems, human agency, and the Anthropocene: Planet earth in the human age. Journal of Archaeological Research 23 (4): 369–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chakrabarty, Dipesh. 2009. The climate of history: Four theses. Critical Inquiry 35 (Winter): 197–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2012. Postcolonial studies and the challenge of climate change. New Literary History 43 (1 Winter): 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crutzen, Paul J. 2002. Geology of mankind. Nature, January. https://www.nature.com. Accessed 17 May 2019.

  • Emmett, Robert, and Thomas Lekan. 2016. Foreword. RCC Perspectives 2: 5–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haraway, Donna. 2015. Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, Chthulucene: Making kin. Environmental Humanities 6 (1): 159–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malm, Andreas, and Alf Hornborg. 2014. The geology of mankind? A critique of the Anthropocene narrative. The Anthropocene review 1 (1): 62–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, Sylvia. 2016. Risk narratives: Climate change, the American novel, and the world risk society. In America after nature: Democracy, culture, environment, ed. Catrin Gersdorf and Juliane Braun, 97–118. Heidelberg: Winter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, Jason W. 2017. The Capitalocene, part I: On the nature and origins of our ecological crisis. The Journal of Peasant Studies 44 (3): 594–630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, Kathleen D. 2015. Provincializing the Anthropocene. Seminar 673: 75–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwägerl, Christian. 2014. The Anthropocene: The human era and how it shapes our planet. Santa Fe/London: Synergetic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steffen, Will, et al. 2011. The Anthropocene: From global change to planetary stewardship. Ambio 40: 739–761.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stromberg, Joseph. 2013. What is the Anthropocene and are we in it? Smithsonian Magazine, January. https://www.smithsonianmag.com. Accessed 16 May 2019.

  • Weik von Mossner, Alexa. 2016. Imagining geological agency: Storytelling in the Anthropocene. RCC Perspectives 2: 83–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zalasiewicz, Jan, et al. 2015. When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary level is stratigraphically optimal. Quaternary International 383: 196–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah Marak .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Marak, S. (2019). Anthropocene. In: Paul, H. (eds) Critical Terms in Futures Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28987-4_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics