Toward an Anthropocenology: foresting new networks of knowledge within the Anthropocene.

In the early 2000s, the Anthropocene was proposed by Paul J. Crutzen, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry and Earth system scientist, as a new geological epoch dominated by human activities and a new noosphere yet to come (Crutzen et Stoermer 2000; Crutzen 2002). In this sense, the Anthropocene Working Group was created in 2009 to try to get the Anthropocene officially recognized within the geological time scale. (Zalasiewicz et al. 2008; 2019). Since then, controversy surrounding its work has continued to grow within the natural and social sciences, culminating in its rejection by geological institutions in March 2024 (International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) 2024). 

What should be done with this concept, given its rejection? What research review can be drawn from the debates on the subject? And how can we continue to foster dialogue between disciplines in order to meet the vital challenges of this new epoch?

The aim of this proposal is to show that the Anthropocene requires a new transdisciplinary field of research, which could be called “Anthropocenology.” Far from being based on nothing, this new field could draw on research in Earth system sciences (Steffen et al. 2018), geological sciences (Zalasiewicz et al. 2021), and social sciences (Latour 2017), which accompanied the debates on the Anthropocene. Its ambition would be to continue creating new knowledge networks around the Anthropocene. (Thomas, Williams, et Zalasiewicz 2020), in order to better cope with the disruptions currently occurring from the Holocene Epoch (Wallenhorst et Wulf 2023). More specifically, the latest research on the Anthropocene has made the Great Acceleration a pivotal moment in the trajectory of human civilizations (Head et al. 2022; Syvitski et al. 2020), particularly in terms of the overall transformation of the relationship between science, technology, and society (STS). 

In this sense, this proposal will draw on the latest online debates surrounding the Anthropocene to identify emerging knowledge on the subject. In terms of data, the focus will be on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of several thousand scientific websites and articles, following the methodology of controversy mapping. (Latour et al. 2012; Venturini et Munk 2021). On a theoretical level, the aim will be to identify knowledge, both online and in society, that will enable us to open up a new trajectory and reflexivity within the Anthropocene (Thomas et al. 2020; Wallenhorst et Wulf 2023; Renn 2020; Leinfelder 2024).