Event

Apr 29, 2021
Natural Resources in Early Modern Economies of Knowledge

This workshop will focus on two resource groups: Water in urban and planetary contexts and mineral and metallic resources in mining contexts. Presentations will address the use of resources as well as their conceptualization as parts of a "nature" redefined from the perspective of resource exploitation in the early modern period. In terms of knowledge history, the workshop aims to understand the assimilation process in relation to the respective contexts and the respective resources. At the same time, this resource-related knowledge will be placed in tension with a (post-)Copernican understanding of planetary contexts and a planetary unity in the consideration of an early modern construction of nature. Thus, human agency with respect to natural processes and conditions is also included in a comprehensive dimension of the workshop’s considerations. Water management and mining are forms of early modern "geoengineering" and link resource management to planetary theories of nature. Thus, these areas are early, effective and irreversible interventions in nature, as described by the Anthropocene in the twentieth century with the help of large-scale technology. Therefore, the workshop seeks to also trace the idea of a Protoanthropocene that comprises aspects of practice, domination, and epistemology in socio-natural environments.

Address
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Room
Zoom/Online Meeting Platform
Contact and Registration

For further questions, the link of the event and registration, please contact: Helge Wendt (hwendt@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de), Pietro Daniel Omodeo (pietrodaniel.omodeo@unive.it).

Download Program
2021-04-29T09:30:00SAVE IN I-CAL 2021-04-29 09:30:00 2021-04-29 17:30:00 Natural Resources in Early Modern Economies of Knowledge This workshop will focus on two resource groups: Water in urban and planetary contexts and mineral and metallic resources in mining contexts. Presentations will address the use of resources as well as their conceptualization as parts of a "nature" redefined from the perspective of resource exploitation in the early modern period. In terms of knowledge history, the workshop aims to understand the assimilation process in relation to the respective contexts and the respective resources. At the same time, this resource-related knowledge will be placed in tension with a (post-)Copernican understanding of planetary contexts and a planetary unity in the consideration of an early modern construction of nature. Thus, human agency with respect to natural processes and conditions is also included in a comprehensive dimension of the workshop’s considerations. Water management and mining are forms of early modern "geoengineering" and link resource management to planetary theories of nature. Thus, these areas are early, effective and irreversible interventions in nature, as described by the Anthropocene in the twentieth century with the help of large-scale technology. Therefore, the workshop seeks to also trace the idea of a Protoanthropocene that comprises aspects of practice, domination, and epistemology in socio-natural environments. Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany Zoom/Online Meeting Platform Helge Wendt Helge Wendt Europe/Berlin public