Freedom in the Anthropocene: Twentieth-Century Helplessness in the Face of Climate Change

While it is clear that the Holocene/Anthropocene transition marks the unprecedented transformation of human societies, scholars have not been able to account for what this transition entails, how it could give rise to our current ecological predicament, and how we might plausibly move beyond it. Without such an understanding, we are left with an inadequate analysis that creates the condition for ill-informed policy decisions and a self-sustaining cycle of unsuccessful attempts to ameliorate societally induced environmental degradation. Freedom in the Anthropocene illuminates our current ecological predicament by focusing on the issue of history and freedom and how it relates to our current inability to render environmental threats and degradation recognizable, and by extension, subject to its conscious and free overcoming by society. Working through the writings of three twentieth century critical theorists (Lukacs, Adorno, and Postone), the authors argue that the idea of the Anthropocene is a historically specific reflection of helplessness, which only becomes possible at the close of the twentieth century.

Table of Contents:
Prologue: The Elusive Clarity of the Anthropocene Introduction: What is the Meaning of Freedom in the Anthropocene 1. Georg Lukacs (1885-1971) and the Critique of Reification: On the Dialectical Genesis of the Great Acceleration 2. Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) and the Critique of Identity Thinking: The Great Acceleration as Historical Sedimentation 3. Moishe Postone (1942 - ) and the Critique of Traditional Marxism: Helplessness and the Present Moment of the Great Acceleration Conclusion: Contemporary Environmental Politics and the Necessity of Critical Theory References

About the Author :
Alexander M. Stoner is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Salisbury University. His areas of expertise include environmental sociology, political economy, and social theory. He is the 2013 co-recipient of the American Sociological Association (ASA) Albert Szymanski-T.R. Young/Marxist Sociology Research Paper Award. His work has appeared in journals such as Critical Sociology and Logos: A Journal of Modern Society and Culture. Andony P. Melathopoulos studies the antagonism between agricultural productivity and the conservation of habitat for wild insects. His interdisciplinary approach spans diverse fields: from pollination ecology, agricultural history to critical theory. He has presented his research at international forums, such as the International Conference on Global Food Security and EcoSummit, and his work has appeared in journals such as Ecological Economics, Annals of Applied Biology and BMC Genomics.

Review :
"Freedom in the Anthropocene is a very sharply perceptive book. The authors' clear and well-constructed argument provides just what a contemporary critical theory should. Their fresh way of understanding the Anthropocene should be read by anyone interested in opposing the juggernaut of the Great Acceleration, and particularly those who think that 'environmentalism' is sufficient to that task." - Andrew Biro, Acadia University, Canada, author of Denaturalizing Ecological Politics (2005) and editor of Critical Ecologies: The Frankfurt School and Contemporary Environmental Crises (2011) "Stoner and Melathopoulos's book highlights the urgent need to situate climate change and related environmental issues and phenomena in the context of rigorous critical social theory. The challenge of ethically sound action geared towards 'saving the planet' (and, by implication, humanity) must be understood in light of - and in relation to - structural circumstances that thwart solutions to problems identified in the debate about the Anthropocene, on the basis of conscientious individual actions and decisions." - Harry F. Dahms, University of Tennessee - Knoxville, USA, author of The Vitality of Critical Theory (2011)