MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT FÜR WISSENSCHAFTSGESCHICHTE Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

Mediathek Event
Oct 12, 2017
The Historians’ Task in the Age of the Anthropocene: Finding Hope in Japan?

Abstract

Historians explore the past in order to understand not only our present but also our future trajectory. However, climate scientists today are now telling us that the conditions on our planet are changing so quickly and unpredictably that the past has no bearing on the future. If our challenges are unprecedented, is history reduced to mere antiquarianism? What are historians to do? This presentation explores this predicament and proposes a new form of critical history as we move from modernity’s promise of freedom and development to the more modest goal of sustainability with decency.  Julia Adeney Thomas considers ways that an alternative history might be found by examining the economic, social, and political practices of early modern Japan.

Address

MPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany

Room
Main Conference Room
Organizer(s)
About This Series

The Anthropocene—the geological epoch of humanity—has established itself as a key concept within a wider scientific and social discourse. In the midst of the dramatic and destabilizing changes to the basic conditions for life on our planet, new epistemic potentials for human action upon the Earth are to be explored.

In the framework of the Anthropocene Lecture series, a number of distinguished speakers accentuating the Anthropocene debate are invited to respond to a topic that will be a central challenge for many generations to come. The lectures take place at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam.

 

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About the Anthropocene Lecture Series
  • Presentation
  • October 12, 2017
  • 00:30:31

The Historians’ Task in the Age of the Anthropocene: Finding Hope in Japan? Presentation 1

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  • Discussion
  • October 12, 2017
  • 00:25:00

The Historians’ Task in the Age of the Anthropocene: Finding Hope in Japan? Discussion 1

  • Several Speakers
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  • Presentation
  • October 12, 2017
  • 00:20:43

The Historians’ Task in the Age of the Anthropocene: Finding Hope in Japan? Presentation 2

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  • Discussion
  • October 12, 2017
  • 00:23:17

The Historians’ Task in the Age of the Anthropocene: Finding Hope in Japan? Discussion 2

  • Several Speakers
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