Asymmetric flows,critical zones,and zero-carbon citizens

Abstract

In 2000, a short scientific paper by Crutzen and Stoermer suggested the Holocene epoch had been supplanted by a new age, the anthropocene, in which human activities had come to rival the great forces of nature in shaping geological and earth system processes. Out of this, a new transdisciplinary research area has emerged, drawing together social and natural scientists, historians, philosophers, and artists, amongst others. In November 2015, as part of a parallel series of events associated with the COP21 United Nations climate change meetings in Paris, the Collège de France, under the auspices of anthropologist Philippe Descola, hosted a two-day conference, ‘How to think the anthropocene? Anthropologists, philosophers, and sociologists facing climate change’. This article summarises some of the main presentations and ideas, including relational aspects between speakers.