Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Law and Geology for the Anthropocene: Toward an Ethics of Encounter

Damianos, Alexander (2022) Law and Geology for the Anthropocene: Toward an Ethics of Encounter. Law and Critique, (34). pp. 165-183. ISSN 0957-8536. (doi:10.1007/s10978-022-09320-7) (KAR id:103535)

Abstract

The Anthropocene has been observed as an opportunity to generate new legal imaginaries capable of revising incumbent assumptions of legal and political thought. What opportunities do such ambitions afford for communication between geological and legal thought? Responding to Birrell & Matthews attempt to ‘re-story a law for, rather than of, the Anthropocene,’ I wish to describe some ways in which the Anthropocene Working Group, who are pursuing formalisation of the Anthropocene as an official geological unit, are involved in a similar exercise of re-storying geology. The Anthropocene theme is brought to bear as a geological reality through material practices of measurement and correlation, as well as through the invocation of previous judgements of the evaluative committees associated with the formalisation of new geological unit. This effort amounts to a redefinition of the practices of geological observation, i.e. what counts as geologically relevant and why. In keeping with the theme of an ‘ethics of encounter’, as encouraged by Birrell and Matthews, this article suggests that the AWG’s effort provides a model with which the elaboration of ‘laws for the Anthropocene’ might correspond.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1007/s10978-022-09320-7
Additional information: For the purpose of open access, the author(s) has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising
Uncontrolled keywords: Anthropocene, law, geology, obligations, science and technology studies
Subjects: K Law
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > Kent Law School
Funders: Economic and Social Research Council (https://ror.org/03n0ht308)
Depositing User: Alex Damianos
Date Deposited: 30 Oct 2023 14:11 UTC
Last Modified: 27 Feb 2024 11:38 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/103535 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.