The Earth System Science’s historiographical proposition

a review of the critiques to the “Anthropocene metanarrative”

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15848/hh.v16i41.1941

Keywords:

Narratives, Scientific practices, Historiography

Abstract

Discussions about the Anthropocene produced by Earth System Science (ESS) and stratigraphy have resulted in texts that make use of data and models, but that also produce historical narratives through which an attempt is made to offer a new unified meaning for humanity. In this article I take these statements as “propositions” which have the potential to transform historiographical practice. The objective is to offer a more detailed picture of the contributions of these “anthropocenologists” in order to enable a better assessment of the possibilities of reception of these propositions by the historians’community. Therefore, this article aims to review some recent criticisms of the narratives produced by these
scientists. As a conclusion, I demonstrate that the literature produced by the ESS cannot be easily reduced to the idea of a “metanarrative”, due to the plurality of positions it encompasses, as well as I point to the need for a pluralization of the historiographical onto-epistemic perspectives so that it can contribute to the multiple ways of inhabiting and giving meaning to the experience in the post-Holocene.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

ACOSTA, Alberto. O bem viver: uma oportunidade para imaginar outros mundos. 1. edição. São Paulo: Elefante Editora, 2016.

ALC NTARA, Valderí Castro et al. Antropoceno: o Campo de Pesquisas e as Controvérsias sobre a Era da Humanidade. Revista Gestão & Conexões, Vitória, v. 9, n. 3, p. 11-31, 2021.

BIERMANN, Frank. The Anthropocene: A governance perspective. The Anthropocene Review, California, v. 1, n. 1, p. 57-61, 2014.

BIERMANN, Frank et al. Navigating the anthropocene: the Earth System Governance Project strategy paper. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Amsterdam, v. 2, n. 3, p. 202-208, 2010.

BONNEUIL, Christophe; FRESSOZ, Jean-Baptiste. The shock of the Anthropocene. London: Verso, 2017.

CASTREE, Noel. Changing the Anthropo(s)cene: Geographers, global environmental change and the politics of knowledge. Dialogues in Human Geography, California, v. 5, n. 3, p. 301-316, 2015.

CHAKRABARTY, Dipesh. The Climate of History: Four Theses. Critical Inquiry, Chicago, v. 35, n. 2, p. 197-222, 2009.

CHARBONNIER, Pierre. A Genealogy of the Anthropocene: The End of Risk and Limits. Annales: Histoire, Sciences Sociales, Paris, v. 72, n. 2, p. 199-224, 2017.

CLARK, Nigel; SZERSZYNSKI, Bronislaw. Planetary social thought: the anthropocene challenge to the social sciences. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2021.

COSTA, Alyne de Castro. Da verdade inconveniente à suficiente: cosmopolíticas do Antropoceno. Cognitio-Estudos: Revista Eletrônica de Filosofia, São Paulo, v. 18, n. 1, p. 37-49, 2021.

CRUTZEN, Paul J. Geology of mankind. Nature, Londres, v. 415, n. 6867, p. 23, 2002.

CRUTZEN, Paul J.; STOERMER, Eugene F. The “Anthropocene”. Global Change Newsletter, Estocolmo, n. 41, p. 17-18, 2000.

DANOWSKI, Déborah. Negacionismos. São Paulo: N-1 Edições, 2018. (Pandemia).

DANOWSKI, Déborah; CASTRO, Eduardo Batalha Viveiros de. Há mundo por vir? Ensaio sobre os medos e os fins. 2. ed. Desterro: Cultura e Barbárie; São Paulo: ISA (Instituto Socioambiental), 2017.

DESCOLA, Philippe. Além de natureza e cultura. Tessituras, Pelotas, v. 3, n. 1, p. 7-33, 2015.

DONGES, Jonathan F. et al. Closing the loop: Reconnecting human dynamics to Earth System science. The Anthropocene Review, California, v. 4, n. 2, p. 151-157, 2017.

EDWARDS, Paul N. A vast machine: computer models, climate data, and the politics of global warming. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2010.

FREMAUX, Anne. The Return of Nature in the Capitalocene: a critique of the ecomodernist version of the ‘good Anthropocene’. In: ARIAS-MALDONADO, Manuel; TRACHTENBERG, Zev (ed.). Rethinking the environment for the Anthropocene: political theory and socionatural relations in the new geologic epoch. London; New York: Routledge, 2019. p. 19-36.

ELLIS, Erle C. et al. Dating the Anthropocene: Towards an empirical global history of human transformation of the terrestrial biosphere. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, Berkeley, CA, v. 1, p. 000018, 2013a.

ELLIS, Erle C. et al. Used planet: A global history. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, v. 110, n. 20, p. 7978-7985, 2013b.

FINNEY, Stanley C.; EDWARDS, Lucy E. The “Anthropocene” epoch: Scientific decision or political statement? GSA Today, Boulder, CO, v. 26, n. 3, p. 4-10, 2016.

FUTURE EARTH. Future Earth Initial Design: Report of the Transition Team. Paris: International Council for Science (ICSU), 2013.

HAMILTON, Clive. Getting the Anthropocene so wrong. The Anthropocene Review, California, v. 2, n. 2, p. 102-107, 2015.

HAMILTON, Clive. The Anthropocene Belongs to Earth System Science. The Conversation, 2016. Disponível em: https://theconversation.com/the-anthropocene-belongs-to-earth-system-science-64105. Acesso em: 23 dez. 2021.

HAMILTON, Clive; BONNEUIL, Christophe; GEMENNE, François (org.). The anthropocene and the global environmental crisis. London; New York: Routledge, 2015.

HAMILTON, Clive; GRINEVALD, Jacques. Was the Anthropocene anticipated? The Anthropocene Review, California, v. 2, n. 1, p. 59-72, 2015.

HORN, Eva; BERGTHALLER, Hannes. The Anthropocene: key issues for the humanities. London; New York: Routledge, 2020. (Key issues in environment and sustainability).

ICSU-IGFA. Review of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP). Amsterdam: s.n., 2008.

KRENAK, Ailton. Ideias para adiar o fim do mundo. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2019.

LATOUR, Bruno. Diante de Gaia: oito conferências sobre a natureza no Antropoceno. São Paulo: Ubu Editora; Rio de Janeiro: Ateliê Editorial, 2020a.

LATOUR, Bruno. Onde Aterrar? Como se orientar politicamente no Antropoceno. Trad. Marcela Vieira; Alyne Costa. Rio de Janeiro: Bazar do Tempo, 2020b.

LATOUR, Bruno. Jamais fomos modernos: ensaio de antropologia simétrica. São Paulo: Editora 34, 2019a.

LATOUR, Bruno. Políticas da natureza: como associar as ciências à democracia. São Paulo: Editora Unesp, 2019b.

LATOUR, Bruno; WOOLGAR, Steve. A vida de laboratório: a produção dos fatos científicos. Rio de Janeiro: Relume Dumará, 1997.

LECAIN, Timothy James. Against the Anthropocene. A Neo-Materialist Perspective. International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity, Leiden, v. 3, n. 1, p. 1-28, 2015.

LEEMANS, Rik et al. Developing a common strategy for integrative global environmental change research and outreach: the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP). Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Amsterdam, v. 1, n. 1, p. 4-13, 2009.

LENTON, Tim. Earth system science: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.

LEWIS, Simon L; MASLIN, Mark A. A transparent framework for defining the Anthropocene Epoch. The Anthropocene Review, California, v. 2, n. 2, p. 128-146, 2015a.

LEWIS, Simon L.; MASLIN, Mark A. Defining the Anthropocene. Nature, Londres, v. 519, n. 7542, p. 171-180, 2015b.

LORIMER, Jamie. The Anthropo-scene: a guide for the perplexed. Social Studies of Science, Kingston, v. 47, n. 1, p. 117-142, 2017.

LÖVBRAND, Eva et al. Who speaks for the future of Earth? How critical social science can extend the conversation on the Anthropocene. Global Environmental Change, Amsterdam, v. 32, p. 211-218, 2015.

LÖVBRAND, Eva; STRIPPLE, Johannes; WIMAN, Bo. Earth System governmentality. Global Environmental Change, Amsterdam, v. 19, n. 1, p. 7-13, 2009.

LOWANDE, Walter Francisco Figueiredo. Do americanismo ao interamericanismo: uma história transnacional da constituição de mundos modernos no Brasil. Campinas: UNICAMP/IFCH, 2020.

LOWANDE, Walter Francisco Figueiredo. A ciência no tempo das catástrofes: o caso da emergência da Ciência do Sistema Terra. História, São Paulo, no prelo.

LYOTARD, Jean-François. A condição pós-moderna. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 2009.

MALM, Andreas; HORNBORG, Alf. The geology of mankind? A critique of the Anthropocene narrative. The Anthropocene Review, California, v. 1, n. 1, p. 1-8, 2014.

MANN, Michael E. The new climate war: the fight to take back our planet. First edition. New York: PublicAffairs, 2021.

MASLIN, Mark A; LEWIS, Simon L. Anthropocene: Earth System, geological, philosophical and political paradigm shifts. The Anthropocene Review, California, v. 2, n. 2, p. 108-116, 2015.

MERCHANT, Carolyn. The Anthropocene and the humanities: from climate change to a new age of sustainability. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020.

MIROWSKI, Philip. The effortless economy of science? Durham: Duke University Press, 2004.

MIROWSKI, Philip. Democracy, expertise and the post-truth era: an inquiry into the contemporary politics of STS, 2020.

MONASTERSKY, Richard. Anthropocene: The human age. Nature, Londres, v. 519, n. 7542, p. 144-147, 2015.

MOORE, Jason W. ¿Antropoceno o Capitaloceno? Sobre la naturaleza y los orígenes de nuestra crisis ecológica. In: MOORE, Jason W. El capitalismo en la trama de la vida: ecología y acumulación capital. Madrid: Traficantes de Sueños, 2020. p. 201-227.

MOORE III et al. The Amsterdam Declaration on Global Change. In: STEFFEN, Will; JÄGER, Jill; CARSON, David J. et al (org.). Challenges of a Changing Earth. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2002, p. 207-208. Global Change — The IGBP Series.

NORDHAUS, Ted; SHELLENBERGER, Michael; BLOMQVIST, Linus. The planetary boundaries: a review of the evidence. Oakland, CA: Breakthrough Institute, 2012.

ORESKES, Naomi; CONWAY, Erik M. Merchants of doubt: how a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to climate change. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.

OTTO, Ilona M. et al. Social tipping dynamics for stabilizing Earth’s climate by 2050. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, v. 117, n. 5, p. 2354-2365, 2020.

ROCKSTRÖM, Johan et al. Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity. Ecology and Society, Dedham, MA, v. 14, n. 2, p. art32, 2009a.

ROCKSTRÖM, Johan et al. A safe operating space for humanity. Nature, Londres, v. 461, n. 7263, p. 472-475, 2009b.

RÜSEN, Jörn. Razão histórica: Teoria da história: os fundamentos da ciência histórica. Brasília: Editora Universidade de Brasília, 2001.

SCHELLNHUBER, H. J. “Earth system” analysis and the second Copernican revolution. Nature, Londres, v. 402, n. S6761, p. C19-C23, 1999.

SHAPIN, Steven. É verdade que estamos vivendo uma Crise da Verdade? Revista Brasileira de História da Ciência, Rio de Janeiro, v. 13, n. 2, p. 308-319, 2020.

STEFFEN, Will; BROADGATE, Wendy; DEUTSCH, Lisa; et al. The trajectory of the Anthropocene: The Great Acceleration. The Anthropocene Review, California, v. 2, n. 1, p. 81-98, 2015b.

STEFFEN, Will; CRUTZEN, Paul J.; MCNEILL, John R. The Anthropocene: Are Humans Now Overwhelming the Great Forces of Nature. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, Stockholm, v. 36, n. 8, p. 614-621, 2007.

STEFFEN, Will et al. The Anthropocene: conceptual and historical perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, London, v. 369, n. 1938, p. 842-867, 2011.

STEFFEN, Will et al. Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet. Science, Washington, DC, v. 347, n. 6223, p. 1259855, 2015a.

STEFFEN, Will et al. The emergence and evolution of Earth System Science. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Berlim, v. 1, n. 1, p. 54-63, 2020.

STEFFEN, Will L. et al. Global change and the earth system: a planet under pressure. Berlin; New York: Springer, 2004. Global change – the IGBP series.

STEFFEN, Will; TYSON, Peter (org.). Global Change and the Earth System: a planet under pressure. New York: IGBP, 2001. IGBP Science, 4.

STENGERS, Isabelle. No tempo das catástrofes: resistir à barbárie que se aproxima. São Paulo: Cosac Naify, 2015.

THORNTON, Peter E. et al. Biospheric feedback effects in a synchronously coupled model of human and Earth systems. Nature Climate Change, Berlim, v. 7, n. 7, p. 496-500, 2017.

TSING, Anna Lowenhaupt. Viver nas ruínas: paisagens multiespécie no antropoceno. Brasília: IEB Mil Folhas, 2019.

TURIN, Rodrigo. Tempos precários: aceleração, historicidade e semântica neoliberal. Rio de Janeiro; Copenhague: Zazie Edições, 2019.

TURIN, Rodrigo. A “catástrofe cósmica” do presente: alguns desafios do Antropoceno para a consciência histórica contemporânea. In: MULLER, Angélica; IGELSKI, Francine. História do Tempo Presente: mutações e reflexões. Rio de Janeiro: Editora FGV, 2022. p. 141-163.

UNESCO. The UNESCO Courier. Paris: UNESCO, 2018.

UHRQVIST, Ola; LINNÉR, Björn. Narratives of the past for Future Earth: The historiography of global environmental change research. The Anthropocene Review, [s.l.], v. 2, n. 2, p. 159-173, 2015.

VEIGA, José Eli da. O antropoceno e a ciência do sistema terra. São Paulo: Editora 34, 2019.

WAGNER, Roy. A invenção da cultura. São Paulo: Cosac Naify, 2010.

WATERS, Colin N. et al. The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene. Science, Washington, DC, v. 351, n. 6269, p. aad2622, 2016.

ZALASIEWICZ, Jan et al. The Anthropocene: comparing its meaning in Geology (Chronostratigraphy) with conceptual approaches arising in other disciplines. Earth’s Future, Nova Jersey, v. 9, n. 3, p. 1-25, 2021.

ZALASIEWICZ, Jan et al. The Working Group on the Anthropocene: Summary of evidence and interim recommendations. Anthropocene, Amsterdam, v. 19, p. 55-60, 2017.

ZALASIEWICZ, Jan et al (org.). The Anthropocene as a Geological Time Unit: A Guide to the Scientific Evidence and Current Debate. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Disponível em: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781108621359/type/book. Acesso em: 5 jan. 2022.

ZALASIEWICZ, Jan et al. Are we now living in the Anthropocene? GSA Today, Boulder, CO, v. 18, n. 2, p. 4, 2008.

ZALASIEWICZ, Jan et al. The New World of the Anthropocene. Environmental Science & Technology, Washington, DC, v. 44, n. 7, p. 2228-2231, 2010.

Published

2023-06-28

How to Cite

FIGUEIREDO LOWANDE, W. F. The Earth System Science’s historiographical proposition: a review of the critiques to the “Anthropocene metanarrative”. História da Historiografia: International Journal of Theory and History of Historiography, Ouro Preto, v. 16, n. 41, p. 1–27, 2023. DOI: 10.15848/hh.v16i41.1941. Disponível em: https://revistahh.emnuvens.com.br/revista/article/view/1941. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2024.

Issue

Section

Review article