Towards a multi- to inter- to transdisciplinary Theory of the Anthropocene - Review of overarching disciplines and research addressing planetary boundaries and social and humanitarian crises

The  Anthropocene is the time in which humanity has a greater influence and impact on our planet than all natural forces combined. The dominant influence of human forces on our planet’s land, water and atmosphere has already overstepped biophysical planetary boundaries, and is threatening to increase and worsen its conditions if politics, society and economy are not adjusting their forces. The problem we face in the Anthropocene can be summarised in the most recent and multiple international reports and publications spanning from the IPCC, IPBES, UNESCO, ENECE and the United Nations. Three ‘broad and deep’ transitions needed to address this huge societal problem are the energy transition, current use of space, and the total greenhouse emissions of the food system. How can disciplines become overarching in breaking loose big societal problems of climate change, biodiversity loss, soil and water contamination, social unrest, pandemics and inequality?

We are discerning two different types of transformations: 1. The three ‘broad and deep’ transitions, and 2. A call for transformation that is supported by a multi- to inter- to transdisciplinary theory of the Anthropocene. The distinction between the two transformations is between practice and theory: Is the theoretical transformation (2) needed to support the practical transformation (1)? How can disciplines become overarching and supporting to each other? How can the result of overarching and supporting disciplines contribute to potential solutions? In addition to being solution-oriented, the overarching umbrella will also have to focus on the total unruly problem (blockages, dilemmas, ambivalences, polarization etc.) in the societal domain.

At first we need to primarily understand how we as human beings have come across living in the Anthropocene. Second, we need to understand how the Anthropocene will develop further and what our options for action are. We need knowledge from many disciplines and a theory that can relate as much of that relatively reductionist knowledge as possible in a relatively coherent and holistic way. A theory on the (multi-level) natural and cultural (co-)evolution of complex adaptive systems might be able to relate or even to some extent unify insights from the various sub-disciplines in a reasonably coherent (and process-philosophical) way.

The current Anthropocene socio-ecological system is (resembles) a runaway super-organism, the question being to what extent it can still be tamed. The driving force of this super-organism seems to be a dysfunctional, potentially self-destructive capitalist/extractivist (infinite growth) ideology of survival of the fittest. To what extent might this evolving super-organism still be capable of self-reflection and self-direction, via (geopolitical) cultural evolution and self-domestication, mindfully directed? This last question probably cannot be answered purely theoretically, but will have to be brought to an answer empirically and in a transdisciplinary way. Towards a multi- to inter- to transdisciplinary Anthropocene theory is therefore an urgent need and a call for transformation that needs incremental steps and which needs eventually to be acknowledged by all academic, governmental, corporal and societal actors.