Conference
20 – 21 Oct 2022

Politics of Nature

Philosophical Perspectives on the Anthropocene

It is obvious that human forms of life have affected the earth system to such an extent that one has to consider the possibility that a new geological age has emerged. More importantly, the severe changes underway in this new age, often called the ‘Anthropocene’, seem to undermine the very conditions of survival on this planet: Climate change, a severe reduction of biodiversity, the increasing exploitation and devastation of the environment, and new diseases based on cross-species virus transmission are only some of the most visible forms in which human activities have seriously undermined the habitability of this planet for human and non-human species. It is the dire irony of the term ‘Anthropocene’ that it is named after the very species that is heading for self-extinction in this age. This situation does not just underline the fact that the present capitalist forms of life are unviable, it also poses a challenge to some of the constitutive ideals that have guided the critique of these forms of life – notions of growth and transformation, liberation and invention, freedom and self-determination, care and responsibility, justice and equality. Against this background, the conference seeks to articulate the ‘Anthropocene’ as a philosophical problem that requires a deep revision of our self-understanding and a new conception of politics.

Venue

ICI Berlin
(Click for further documentation)

With

Jacob Blumenfeld
Robin Celikates
Xenia Chiaramonte
Lillian Cicerchia
Jeanette Ehrmann
Alexandra Heimes
Katharina Hoppe
Thomas Khurana
Kristina Lepold
Beth Lord
Andreas Malm
Christoph Menke
Karen Ng
Oliver Precht
Rupert Read
Francesca Raimondi
Eva von Redecker
Eric-John Russell
Martin Saar
Christian Schmidt
Johannes-Georg Schülein
Melanie Sehgal
Oxana Timofeeva
Alexey Weissmüller
Slavoj Žižek

Organized by

Thomas Khurana
An event of the Department of Philosophy & the Center for Post-Kantian Philosophy (University of Potsdam) in cooperation with the ICI Berlin, supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG)

In English

First published on: https://www.ici-berlin.org/events/politics-of-nature/
Rights: © ICI Berlin
Cite as: Politics of Nature: Philosophical Perspectives on the Anthropocene, conference, ICI Berlin, 20–21 October 2022 <https://doi.org/10.25620/e221020>