ABSTRACT
The Anthropocene is replete with warnings of imminent dangers to Earth and its inhabitants. For Paul Crutzen, the 'Anthropocene' is an Earth systems emergency on an unprecedented scale; announcing it, a necessary shock tactic. This epoch-naming gives shape to the sense of human calamity in its full magnitude and dimensions and yet it resists being pinned down as a blueprint for resolving crisis. The Anthropocene story captures the fears of the day – the condition of Anthropocenophobia. It elicits a general mood of anticipation, prognosis and precaution. If the prospect of Anthropocene rock was intended as a curfew, it is also a provocation to inhabit Earth differently – in a way that acknowledges Earth system shifts occurring as a result of, and in spite of, human actions.
