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Who speaks for the future of Earth?: how critical social science can extend the conversation on the Anthropocene

Lövbrand, Eva, Beck, Silke, Chilvers, Jason, Forsyth, Tim ORCID: 0000-0001-7227-9475, Hedrén, Johan, Hulme, Mike, Lidskog, Rolf and Vasileiadou, Eleftheria (2015) Who speaks for the future of Earth?: how critical social science can extend the conversation on the Anthropocene. Global Environmental Change, 32. pp. 211-218. ISSN 0959-3780

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Identification Number: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.03.012

Abstract

This paper asks how the social sciences can engage with the idea of the Anthropocene in productive ways. In response to this question we outline an interpretative research agenda that allows critical engagement with the Anthropocene as a socially and culturally bounded object with many possible meanings and political trajectories. In order to facilitate the kind of political mobilization required to meet the complex environmental challenges of our times, we argue that the social sciences should refrain from adjusting to standardized research agendas and templates. A more urgent analytical challenge lies in exposing, challenging and extending the ontological assumptions that inform how we make sense of and respond to a rapidly changing environment. By cultivating environmental research that opens up multiple interpretations of the Anthropocene, the social sciences can help to extend the realm of the possible for environmental politics.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/global-environmen...
Additional Information: © 2015 Elsevier Ltd
Divisions: International Development
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Date Deposited: 24 Apr 2015 12:58
Last Modified: 05 Dec 2024 08:06
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/61703

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