ABSTRACT
This chapter engages with Antarctica as a key object with which to think the Anthropocene. Through a discussion of a range of authors and perspectives, the chapter shows how the Anthropocene emerges as a complex blend of socio-political and physico-material negotiations, where current problematisations of planetary ‘boundary conditions’ are not only indicative of the need for new ethical engagements, but are also suggestive of a new kind of ‘geologic politics’. These are Earthly politics concerned as much with the temporal dynamics and changes of state in Earth systems as they are with political issues revolving around nation states’ interests in the Antarctica and Southern Ocean. As the Anthropocene brings geological matters and imaginaries to the critical attention of social scientists, the chapter reflects critically on how the Antarctic provides a unique opportunity to develop an affirmative relationship across disciplinary divides: to create a space for dialogue about what sort of ethics are needed to engage with this territory not only as a laboratory for science, but also as a social laboratory for thinking alternative ways of living in the Anthropocene.
