- 期刊
- OpenAccess
The Challenge of Transculturality in the Era of the Misanthropocene
摘要
Anthropocene refers to the moment when humans recognized that their domination over "nature" was also the instrument of their own demise. One could have hoped for man to acknowledge that influencing the planet as a whole would have given way to a shared feeling of terrestrial belonging. However, that the Anthropocene means that Human Beings in general are responsible for Climate Change has been criticized by social-scientists: it's not Humanity in general but a small portion who are responsible for global ecological disruption. But there seems to be no agreement about naming the guilty "scapegoat" that "we" need to "sacrifice" on the long march toward "ecological equilibrium" and "human-nature harmony." To settle this polemical issue, we need to deculturalize and re-historicize the Anthropocene: according to most scientists, the Anthropocene comes with the post-1950 "Great Acceleration." In other words, the Anthropocene started when colonization ceased to be the privilege of one region, the "West," and started to be available to the Global East & South. The "Anthropocene" is the name of an era in which every country is developing to its utmost in a race towards global or regional supremacy. Ultimately, the issue with the Anthropocene is not about the relation of humanity to nature but about the relationship of humanity with itself. This is why the Anthropocene should be re-labelled "Misanthropocene." Since reading the Anthropocene through the lens of an "East and West onto-cultural divide" and from a "Green Orientalism" perspective is so misleading, a transcultural approach to is necessary.