Pluralizing the Anthropocene II
Reenvisioning the Future of the Planet in the 21st Century
The session will be in English
Events
will take place online. All welcome but registration required
ORGANIZATION
Research
Centre for Anthropology and Health (CIAS) | Serralves | Sci-Tech Asia |
Department of Life Sciences of the University of Coimbra | Centre For
Functional Ecology - Science for People & the Planet
CURATOR
Gonçalo Santos (CIAS /
Sci-Tech Asia / University of Coimbra)
MODERATORS
Gonçalo
Santos (CIAS / Sci-Tech Asia / University
of Coimbra)
Helena Freitas (Centre for Functional Ecology /
Serralves Foundation)
PROGRAM
The notion of the Anthropocene
spilled out from the geophysical sciences into the humanities, social sciences,
the arts, and the media, triggering a vast global debate on the future of human
life on the planet. In “the age of humans”, humans have become one of the most
potent geophysical forces in the planet and their activities are leading to
increasing environmental uncertainties. If the world once had the illusion of
stability, it is now facing the prospect of trouble without end. But the
Anthropocene is not just about a runaway world of environmental doom; it is
also about overcoming disaster and catastrophe and creating new visions of hope
and justice. The realities of anthropogenic climate change, species extinction,
and sea level rise compel a reimagining of humanity’s place in the world, and
an urgent rethinking of the dominant forces threatening the ecological balance
of the planet. Using the term Anthropocene to refer to this new age of
anthropogenic uncertainties has opened up a whole new field of
multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary conversations about human-environment
relations in the 21st century, but it has also generated a
monolithic understanding of the Anthropocene as a unified human experience.
This framing of the Anthropocene around a universalizing species paradigm has a
homogenizing effect. And yet, not all humans are equally implicated in the
forces driving contemporary human-environmental crises, and not all humans are
equally invited into the conceptual spaces where these disasters are theorized
or responses to disaster formulated. This second season of Pluralizing the Anthropocene will feature anthropological reflections
from major figures in the humanities and the sciences committed to opening up
the plural possibilities of on-going Anthropocene debates of resilience,
adaptation, and the struggle for environmental justice.
Related
Helena Freitas received her PhD in Ecology from
the University of Coimbra, in collaboration with the University of Bielefeld,
Germany, in 1993, and did postdoctoral studies at Stanford University, USA,
between 1994 and 1996. She is Full Professor of Biodiversity and Ecology at the
Department of Life Sciences of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the
University of Coimbra since 2003, and holds the UNESCO Chair in Biodiversity
and Conservation for Sustainable Development since 2014. Helena Freitas joined
the General Council of the University of Coimbra (2009-2011), was the Director
of the Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra from 2004 to 2012, the
President of the League for the Protection of Nature (1999 (2002-2005), the
founder and President of the Portuguese Society of Ecology (2004-2013) and the
Vice- President of the European Society of Ecology (2009-2012). She is
currently Coordinator of the Center for Functional Ecology - science for people
and the planet, Scientific Coordinator of FitoLab - Phytosanitary Laboratory of
the Pedro Nunes Institute, and is a member of the Scientific Council of the
Department of Life Sciences of the University of Coimbra. Her research
interests include Ecology; Mediterranean Ecosystems; Forest and Agriculture;
Ecology and Management of exotic and invasive species; Conservation of Nature,
Biodiversity; Physiology of the tree; Diversity of Plants and Fungi; Tolerance
to Stress and Bioremediation; Environmental policy; Bioenergy; Conservation of
Nature; Microbial ecology; Ecology and Society. She is the author of more than
300 international scientific publications and several publications promoting
and disseminating science. In March 2000 he was awarded the Commendation of the
Order of Prince Henry the Infant by the President of the Portuguese Republic
Jorge Sampaio.