One might have different opinions about whether or not the Anthropocene is a legitimate name for a new epoch, or whether a new epoch should be declared at all. But the term brings to the fore the inexorability with which our lives are interwoven with the current planetary crisis. The current COVID-19 disease can be understood as the first Anthropocenic pandemic, brought about by the disruption of ecosystems that lead to inter-species transmission of the virus.
Even in lock-down, with our movements and our experiences of the natural world drastically confined, we encounter the Anthropocene. Some of the sites and objects might help to discover aspects of the concept that have not been perceived yet. They might tell stories of loss, sin and shame that humankind has brought about herself, but they could also enable us to envision change. What do the Anthropocenic objects in our daily lives tell us about the new epoch, about ourselves, humankind’s interaction with the environment, about despair, grace and hope?
In the dispatch Object Tales, students of the Mphil course “Envisioning the Environmental Future: Theology in the Anthropocene”, taught by Dr Simone Kotva and Dr Hjördis Becker-Lindenthal, share their observations and reflections.