Navigating the Anthropocene through a Commodity Lens

The Anthropocene is not only a human-driven geological epoch, as argued by the Earth System Sciences, but also a multi-faceted discourse on socio-ecological relations, as analysed by the social sciences and humanities. Within the Anthropocene discourse, several grand narratives compete for hegemony: The dominant ‘naturalist narrative’ claims that the human species has inadvertently altered the Earth system at a geological scale. The ‘post-nature narrative’ claims that nature is socially constructed and, thus, appropriate technology might tackle the planetary crisis. The ‘eco-catastrophist narrative’ highlights the unsustainable mode of production and consumption that drives the transgression of planetary boundaries towards tipping points. The ‘eco-Marxist narrative’ argues that capitalist elites in the core countries of the world-system accumulated profit and power through unequal economic and ecological exchange with the peripheries, where the resulting social and ecological costs undermine (non-)human habitability. Such highly abstract and complex notions of the Anthropocene can be assessed in a more concrete and simplified manner through the lens of commodities. By following a commodity across time and space, we can gain a broader and deeper understanding of the dynamics of the Anthropocene. As an example, the more-than-human network around soy has gained a broad and deep planetary footprint in the ‘Great Acceleration’ and its aftermaths. A soy-focused history of the Anthropocene – or ‘Soyacene’ – is relevant not only in academic research but also in public debates on the current polycrisis. By highlighting the socio-natural dynamics behind the Earth’s Anthropocene trajectory from a historical perspective, the soy lens gains useful insights for navigating the planetary crisis.