The pluriverse of the Anthropocene: One Earth, many worlds

Abstract

The Anthropocene, marked by significant anthropogenic impacts on a global scale, demands a completely new paradigm regarding the human-Earth alliance. It would not manifest as a more inclusive, culturally diverse, and holistic approach to the world, but rather at a seemingly one-world scale. The singularity of one-world universalism is rooted in the principle of human exceptionalism – the notion that humanity is at the centre of everything – even down to claims of structural determination on geological timescales. Our epistemological conservative view is that lifeworld is limited to existing as an ecological living space and the Earth is fixed as a mere background of our world-dwelling. At the same time, the Earth is silently yet progressively moving towards a crisis of uncertainty. Against a grand narrative of western universal assumptions in defining the Anthropocene, this article initially restructures the metanarrative by characterizing a proposal: a multiple-realization beyond speculative hermeneutics capable of fostering pluriversalization of reality layers at the geological constellation. This proposed concept explores the intersection of the geo(pluriverse)logical Anthropocene by acknowledging the interdependence and multiplication of realities, while appreciating and preserving the existence of many worlds alongside our precious Earth. It highlights the distinction between the realization of the Anthropocene in two contexts: the world and the Earth.