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texts in Australia to show the continued imbrication of human and non-human
biota management under the paranoid imaginary of border security logics, which
rely upon the protectionist rhetoric of invasion.
The Anthropos in the Anthropocene
In 2000, Paul Crutzen, Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist, used the term
'Anthropocene' to mark a distinction from the Holocene on the grounds that humans
have radically changed the face of the world. Since then journal articles debating the
'Anthropocene' in the natural sciences have increased exponentially. In 2008, a
proposal was presented to the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of
London to evaluate the scientific validity of designating the 'Anthropocene' as a
formal unit of geological time. The proposal was supported by a large majority at the
conference and an Anthropocene Working Group of the Subcommission on
Quarternary Stratigraphy was formed to assess the scientific evidence in favour of
designating an Anthropocene Era. Several grant applications have been submitted on
the subject, new research groups have sprung up around the world and a new
collaboration between scientists and cultural/arts workers is currently planning two
exhibitions in Germany (see Anthropocene Working Group, 2009).
Despite the buzz of activity 1 surrounding this new concept, the Anthropocene
has yet to be formally accepted by the Geological Society of London (i.e. the
scientific body responsible for determining geological timelines). As is evident from
an e-mail exchange between Dr Jan Zalasiewicz (Chair of the Anthropocene
Working Group) and Dr Davor Vidas, dated 28 August 2009, there is 'a reasonable
general case made for considering the Anthropocene as a formal unit' but the 'term
is not yet formal' and 'over the next few years [the Anthropocene Working Group]
will examine and weigh the geological evidence' (Anthropocene Working Group,
2009: 7). According to their website, the group aims to have a proposal formalising
the term 'Anthropocene' by 2016. 2
Nevertheless, the uncertain status of the 'Anthropocene' in the scientific
community has not dulled humanities and social sciences' enthusiasm for the term
as evidenced by the growing number of associated conferences. In Australia, the
Humanities Research Centre of Australian National University hosted the 2012
Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes on 13-16
June 2012, which was dedicated to 'Anthropocene Humanities'. In 2013, a
conference on 'Society in the Anthropocene' was held at Bristol University,
another conference on 'The History and Politics of the Anthropocene' was held at
Chicago University, and in Australia, the Animal Studies Group at the University
of Sydney hosted a conference on 'Life in the Anthropocene'. In the same year,
the second conference of the Environmental Humanities Network was themed
'Culture and the Anthropocene' and held on 14-16 June 2013 at the Rachel
Carson Centre for Environment and Society in Munich.
Of course the Anthropocene Humanities (to borrow one of the conference
titles) is simply the latest shift in the longer history of a broader environmental
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