The anthropocene debate and political science

Anthropocene has become an environmental buzzword. It denotes a new geological epoch that is human‐dominated. As mounting scientific evidence reveals, humankind has fundamentally altered atmospheric, geological, hydrological, biospheric, and other Earth system processes to an extent that the risk of an irreversible system change emerges. Human societies must therefore change direction and navigate away from critical tipping points in the various ecosystems of our planet. This hypothesis has kicked off a debate not only on the geoscientific definition of the Anthropocene era, but increasingly also in the social sciences. However, the specific contribution of the social sciences disciplines and in particular that of political science still needs to be fully established. This edited volume analyzes, from a political science perspective, the wider social dynamics underlying the ecological and geological changes, as well as their implications for governance and politics in the Anthropocene. The focus is on two questions: (1) What is the contribution of political science to the Anthropocene debate, e.g. in terms of identified problems, answers, and solutions? (2) What are the conceptual and practical implications of the Anthropocene debate for the discipline of political science?

Introduction : a political science perspective on the anthropocene / Thomas Hickmann, Lena Partzsch, Philipp Pattberg and Sabine Weiland -- A natural history for the 21st century : rethinking the anthropocene narrative with Arendt and Adorno / Maike Weisspflug -- Disentangling descriptions and responses to the anthropocene : norms and implications of scientific representations of the earth system / Johannes Lundershausen -- The anthropocene and governance : critical reflections on conceptual relations / Basil Bornemann -- International theory in the anthropocene : moving beyond species, state, and governance / Franziska Müller -- Security studies and the discourse on the anthropocene : shortcomings, challenges, and opportunities / Judith Nora Hardt -- Global climate governance as boundary object : making the meaning of the anthropocene / Lukas Hermwille -- From "talking the talk" to "walking the walk"? : multi-level global governance of the anthropocene in Indonesia / Chris Höhne -- Agricultural governance in the anthropocene : a research agenda / Sandra Schwindenhammer -- Sustainability impact assessment of land use changes in the anthropocene / Till Hermanns and Qirui Li -- The nuclear legacy in the anthropocene : interrelations between nature, technology, and society / Dörte Themann and Achim Brunnengräber -- Worlds apart? : the global South and the anthropocene / Jens Marquardt -- The anthropocene concept as a wake-up call for reforming democracy / Jörg Tremmel -- Conclusions : towards a "deep debate" on the anthropocene / Thomas Hickmann, Lena Partzsch, Philipp Pattberg and Sabine Weiland

Introduction : a political science perspective on the anthropocene / Thomas Hickmann, Lena Partzsch, Philipp Pattberg and Sabine Weiland -- A natural history for the 21st century : rethinking the anthropocene narrative with Arendt and Adorno / Maike Weisspflug -- Disentangling descriptions and responses to the anthropocene : norms and implications of scientific representations of the earth system / Johannes Lundershausen -- The anthropocene and governance : critical reflections on conceptual relations / Basil Bornemann -- International theory in the anthropocene : moving beyond species, state, and governance / Franziska Müller -- Security studies and the discourse on the anthropocene : shortcomings, challenges, and opportunities / Judith Nora Hardt -- Global climate governance as boundary object : making the meaning of the anthropocene / Lukas Hermwille -- From "talking the talk" to "walking the walk"? : multi-level global governance of the anthropocene in Indonesia / Chris Höhne -- Agricultural governance in the anthropocene : a research agenda / Sandra Schwindenhammer -- Sustainability impact assessment of land use changes in the anthropocene / Till Hermanns and Qirui Li -- The nuclear legacy in the anthropocene : interrelations between nature, technology, and society / Dörte Themann and Achim Brunnengräber -- Worlds apart? : the global South and the anthropocene / Jens Marquardt -- The anthropocene concept as a wake-up call for reforming democracy / Jörg Tremmel -- Conclusions : towards a "deep debate" on the anthropocene / Thomas Hickmann, Lena Partzsch, Philipp Pattberg and Sabine Weiland

Anthropocene has become an environmental buzzword. It denotes a new geological epoch that is human‐dominated. As mounting scientific evidence reveals, humankind has fundamentally altered atmospheric, geological, hydrological, biospheric, and other Earth system processes to an extent that the risk of an irreversible system change emerges. Human societies must therefore change direction and navigate away from critical tipping points in the various ecosystems of our planet. This hypothesis has kicked off a debate not only on the geoscientific definition of the Anthropocene era, but increasingly also in the social sciences. However, the specific contribution of the social sciences disciplines and in particular that of political science still needs to be fully established. This edited volume analyzes, from a political science perspective, the wider social dynamics underlying the ecological and geological changes, as well as their implications for governance and politics in the Anthropocene. The focus is on two questions: (1) What is the contribution of political science to the Anthropocene debate, e.g. in terms of identified problems, answers, and solutions? (2) What are the conceptual and practical implications of the Anthropocene debate for the discipline of political science? Overall, this book contributes to the Anthropocene debate by providing novel theoretical and conceptual accounts of the Anthropocene, engaging with contemporary politics and policy-making in the Anthropocene, and offering a critical reflection on the Anthropocene debate as such. The volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of political science, global environmental politics and governance, and sustainable development.