ABSTRACT
Emerged at the turn of the century, the Anthropocene has quickly become from a scientific issue a keyword, or catchword, of broad public appeal. The idea that human action should be considered on a par with geological forces and that this asks for a ‘stewardship’ of the planet has led to heated discussions. The chapter addresses the debate over dating, which is crucial for the implications concerning responsibilities for, and ways of, acting in response to ecological threats. Scientific and social-political questions are entangled together. The resulting governmental apparatus – the ensemble of expert knowledges, verdictive procedures, institutional arrangements and political strategies – makes it hard to question the ruling order, as based on the sense of reality and of individual and collective destiny that capitalism has managed to enforce in the last decades. The notion of Anthropocene, however, can be provided with another meaning: as the signpost for human and more-than-human relations based on humbleness and respect, rather than domination and exploitation. There exist already plenty of ‘real utopias’ where alternative ways of relating among people and with biophysical materiality are experimented.
