International Relations in the Anthropocene : New Agendas, New Agencies and New Approaches

This textbook introduces advanced students of International Relations (and beyond) to the ways in which the advent of, and reflections on, the Anthropocene impact on the study of global politics and the disciplinary foundations of IR. The book contains 24 chapters, authored by senior academics as well as early career scholars, and is divided into four parts, detailing, respectively, why the Anthropocene is of importance to IR, challenges to traditional approaches to security, the question of governance and agency in the Anthropocene, and new methods and approaches, going beyond the human/nature divide. Chapter 9, “Security in the Anthropocene” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com. Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures List of Boxes 1: Introduction: International Relations in the Anthropocene Introduction The Anthropocene Condition International Relations The Contents of the Book: New Agendas, New Agencies and New Approaches in the Anthropocene How to Use This Book References Part I: The Anthropocene: From the Global to the Planetary Introduction 2: Towards a Politics for the Earth: Rethinking IR in the Anthropocene Introduction Moving Beyond the State, Embracing the Earth Recognizing Instability, Uncertainty, and Complexity Breaking with the Nature-Society Dichotomy to Forge a New Development Paradigm Rejecting Anthropocentrism Conclusion Further Reading References 3: Encounters between Security and Earth System Sciences: Planetary Boundaries and Hothouse Earth Introduction Erring on the Side of Danger: Trajectories of the Earth System (Science) ESS Encounters with Security Categories and Analysis Anthropocene “Hard” Sciences and Politics Towards the Existential Towards the World of Human-Nature Intertwinement Change Versus Status Quo Conclusion Further Reading References 4: The Nuclear Origins of the Anthropocene Introduction The Military, War and the Environment The Nuclear Condition of Extinction The Atomic Anthropocene and Nuclear Colonialism Conclusion Further Reading References 5: Decolonizing the Anthropocene Introduction The Eurocentrism of the Anthropocene Postcolonial Theory and the Anthropocene Decolonizing the Anthropocene and Provincializing Eurocentric Futurism Conclusion Further Reading References 6: Geoengineering: A New Arena of International Politics Introduction: ‘Fixing’ the Climate Crisis? What Are Geoengineering Technologies? The Elusive International Geoengineering and the International Conclusion: Geoengineering and IR in the Anthropocene Further Reading References 7: Genealogies of the Anthropocene and How to Study Them Introduction Anthropocene Origin Stories Genealogy as a Spatial Analytic The ‘Whole Earth’ Movement and the Birth of Eco-Modernism Problematizations: The Emergence of Planetary Thinking The Whole Earth as a Zone of Translation Catalogs, Domes and Other Knowledge Artifacts Eco-Modernism and the Anthropocene Conclusion Further Reading On Genealogy On the History of the Anthropocene On the Whole Earth Movement References Part II: The Challenge of Security Introduction 8: Environmental Security and the Geopolitics of the Anthropocene Introduction Environmental Security Changing Geographies Living in the Technosphere A New World: Energy and Geopolitics Conclusion: Anthropocene Security? Further Reading References 9: Security in the Anthropocene Introduction The Security Challenges of the Anthropocene Subjects and Objects of Security Security and Securitization in the Anthropocene Conclusion Further Reading References 10: Security Through Resilience: Contemporary Challenges in the Anthropocene Introduction The Anthropocene and Complexity Alternative Approaches to Resilience Conclusion Further Reading References 11: Protecting the Vulnerable: Towards an Ecological Approach to Security Introduction Why Security? Discourses of Climate Security Ecological Security: What Is It? Towards Ecological Security: How Do We Get There? Conclusion Further Reading References 12: Caring for the World: Security in the Anthropocene Introduction The History and Development of Care Ethics Care and Security in the Anthropocene Care Beyond the West The Hazards of Care Conclusion Further Reading References Part III: Governance and Agency Introduction 13: Posthuman International Relations: Complexity, Ecology and Global Politics Introduction What Is Posthumanism? Actor-Network Theory Complexity Thinking Posthumanism(s) and International Relations Re-thinking the Anthropocene from a Posthuman Perspective Conclusion Further Reading References 14: Agency in More-than-Human, Queerfeminist and Decolonial Perspectives Introduction Making Sense of the Anthropocene: IR’s Holocene Limitations Moving Beyond Holocene IR New Approaches in the Anthropocene Conclusion Further Reading References 15: Disrupting the Universality of the Anthropocene with Perspectives from the Asia Pacific Introduction Decolonising the Asia-Pacific Contribution to the Anthropocene Differentiated Vulnerabilities in the Asia Pacific Ecologically Aligned Living in the Asia Pacific Conclusion Further Reading References 16: Challenges to Democracy in the Anthropocene Introduction Democracy in Global Governance and IR Challenges for Democracy in the Anthropocene Reimagining Democracy for the Anthropocene Conclusion Further Reading References 17: Environmental Governance in the Anthropocene: Challenges, Approaches and Critical Perspectives Introduction Anthropocene Challenges to Environmental Governance Challenges in Spatial Terms Challenges in Temporal Terms Challenges in Substantive Terms Challenges in Social Terms Approaches to Anthropocene Governance Goals of Anthropocene Governance Means of Anthropocene Governance Problematizing and Developing Anthropocene Governance Conclusion Further Reading References 18: Experimental Government in the Anthropocene Introduction The Anthropocene Problem Promethean Administration—Earth Systems Governance Down to Earth—Situated and Messy Urban Experimentation Redefining Infrastructure Conclusion—Resilience Dispositif Further Reading References Part IV: Methods and Approaches: Beyond the Human/Nature Divide Introduction 19: Collaging as a Method for IR in the Anthropocene Introduction Collaging the Anthropocene Collaging to (Re-)problematize the Anthropocene Collaging to Re-design in the Anthropocene Conclusion Further Readings References 20: Knowing of Ontologies: Map-Making to ‘See’ Worlds of Relations Introduction Knowing of Other Ways of Knowing ‘Mapping’ Ancestors Mapping, Illiteracy, and the Anthropocene? Conclusion Further Reading References 21: Spatializing the Environmental Apocalypse Introduction: The Anthropocene as Environmental Apocalypse The Futural and Planetary Logic of Environmental Apocalypse Apocalypse, Modernity, Time, and Space Postcolonial Eschatologies Latitudinal Environmental Eschatology Conclusion Further Reading References 22: The Weather Is Always a Method Introduction Wind Bodies Aerosols Against Meteorology Conclusion Further Reading References 23: Thought Experiment as Method: Science-Fiction and International Relations in the Anthropocene Introduction Science-Fiction as a Methodological Field for International Relations The Human as Problem and Solution: Staying on Earth in the Face of Apocalypse After the End of the World: Leaving Earth to Survive as a Species Conclusion Further Reading References 24: Disrupting Anthropocentrism Through Relationality Introduction Existential Assumptions and Their Fruits Responding to the Anthropocene Through Separation Responding to the “Anthropocene” Through Relationality Conclusion Further Readings References Index This textbook introduces advanced students of International Relations (and beyond) to the ways in which the advent of, and reflections on, the Anthropocene impact on the study of global politics and the disciplinary foundations of IR. The book contains 23 chapters, authored by senior academics as well as early career scholars, and is divided into four parts, detailing, respectively, why the Anthropocene is of importance to IR, challenges to traditional approaches to security, the question of governance and agency in the Anthropocene, and new methods and approaches, going beyond the human/nature divide. David Chandler is Professor of International Relations at the University of Westminster, UK. Franziska Müller is Assistant Professor for Globalization and Climate Governance at the University of Hamburg, Germany. Delf Rothe is Researcher and Principal Investigator of the DFG-funded research project 'The Knowledge Politics of Security in the Anthropocene', Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, University of Hamburg, Germany