The Philosophy Group (PHI) and Cultural Geography Group (GEO) of Wageningen University invite you for PhD/Post-doc workshop with Clive Hamilton.

What kind of creature are we in the Anthropocene?

Abstract

The arrival of the new geological epoch known as the Anthropocene is not only a rupture in Earth history. It is also, arguably, the most profound event in human history. Human beings have become so powerful that we have shifted the planet from its natural trajectory, becoming a ‘force of nature’ comparable with others that for billions of years have shaped Earth’s biogeological evolution. Yet, for all of our technological power, we now face an ‘angry’, ‘vengeful’ Earth woken from its Holocene slumber, sending ‘extreme events’ with ever-greater frequency.

All of this controverts the modern (and post-modern) way of thinking about the Earth and the place of humans on it. Our power and consciousness make us the special animal, but we are using our freedom and technology to destroy the conditions of life. What concepts can we deploy to try to understand this radically new dispensation? And what is the appropriate disposition – hubris, hopefulness, rage, despair, resignation, nihilism, contrition?

Workshop for PhDs and postdocs 15.00-17.00, 7 June

The workshop with Clive Hamilton will be in the Leeuwenborch from 15.00 to 17.00. The workshop will focus on the conception of the human being in the Anthropocene, and in particular on the relation between the human being and technology in this conception. While many of us likely have some conception of what we are as a human being in the back of our minds when discussing the impact of human beings on the planet as we struggle with for example climate change, this conception, and the role of technology therein, is rarely articulated. Meanwhile, it is precisely the combination of human beings and technology that turned out to be disastrous for life on planet Earth. The goal of this workshop is to develop a critical understanding of human beings and their relation to technology and the planet in the Anthropocene.

In order to participate in the workshop, attendants are expected to have read Clive Hamilton’s book “Defiant Earth: The Fate of Humans in the Anthropocene”.

To register for the workshop, please send an email to paulan.korenhof@wur.nl