Agenda

Planetary Genealogies in Russia and Eastern Europe
DDBC, Aula Valent, 3rd floor, Malcanton Marcorà
22-23 May 2025 

When Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer formally introduced the term Anthropocene in the newsletter of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) in 2000, they sought to trace the historical, cultural, scientific and philosophical roots of our current understanding of the human-geological relationship. They suggested that awareness of human impact on global nature is not new, but rather goes back in time. In particular, they mentioned George P. Marsh, who described the impact of humans on changing the Earth's surface, Antonio Stoppani, who introduced the notion of the anthropozoic era, and Vladimir Vernadsky, who, a few decades later, referred to the noosphere as a novel entity representing human thought as the most powerful planetary force. Building on the tradition initiated by the French naturalist Buffon in the 18th century, these thinkers became part of the official folklore in introducing the concept of the Anthropocene.
While this literature includes only a few figures, it completely ignores the work of many others who are either not part of mainstream science or only loosely connected to current debates. The result is a deficiency in our understanding of the vast scope of early recognition of planetary-scale changes underway as a result of anthropogenic activity.
This workshop aims to fill this gap by exploring the works and historical contexts of people and places that have been marginalized or forgotten in the current scholarly literature on the Anthropocene. We have chosen to limit the geographical and geopolitical scope of these sources to Russia and the Soviet Union, including Central and Eastern Europe. We believe that the focus on Eastern contributions adds a unique perspective, given the diverse cultural, scientific and philosophical traditions in this part of the world. While this will be a valuable opportunity to bring to light previously unknown (con)texts of the Anthropocene – for example, by resurfacing texts that have never been translated into English – we also encourage consideration of the circulation of ideas between Eastern and Western countries, as well as the epistemological and historical lineages that have shaped these ideas. Moreover, we do not mean to imply that the authors and sources presented must necessarily be unknown to the general academic public. What is important in this context are the rather overlooked parts of their work that are now becoming scientifically and intellectually relevant in light of the challenge of the Anthropocene.

International workshop organized by Giulia Rispoli and Marko Marila (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) in collaboration with Christoph Rosol and Benjamin Steininger (MPIGEA)

Full programme