A Microcosm of the anthropocene

Eduardo S. Brondizio, "A microcosm of the anthropocene : socioecological", Perspectives, n° 10, automne-hiver 2013- 2014.

We live in a time of accellera­ted changes, a historical zenith of the intensity and the scale of human activities encapu­sulated by the concept of the Anthropocene. The unwielding complexity of the anthropocene challenges the social and bio­physical sciences to break bar­riers across and beyond disci­plines and to rethink analytical models of social and environ-mental change. This is not a new task, but an increasingly pres­sing one. There has been many efforts to overcome analytical constructs based on dichoto­mies, equilibrium and linearity, and deterministic causality that have limited our understanding of socio-ecological phenomena marked by inter-connectedness and non-linear relationships across levels.