Science for the Anthropocene - Learning to Fly

Poll after poll has shown for some years that a clear majority of the public are in favour of significant action on climate, and on other environmental crises, such as plastic pollution or biodiversity loss. Yet the politics of actual policy on these issues remains hotly contested and thus largely paralyzed, even in countries where outright denial of these problems is a fringe position. What we clearly need, in other words, is a climate majority, and an approach that will actually build this. In Episode 12, we turn directly to this key issue, in conversation with Rupert Read and Liam Kavanagh, who are leading a newly launched initiative specifically focused on this agenda, the Climate Majority Project. Discussing their novel and promising ‘theory of change’ – and hence how this initiative is different to others that have preceded it – as well as Rupert’s excellent and moving new book ‘Why Climate Breakdown Matters’, we explore a whole new vista on climate/environmental politics opened up by approaching these issues from a different angle, and one, moreover, that is strongly resonant with that explored in this podcast. This includes not only a clear-eyed acceptance of the basis of a Science FOR the Anthropocene, i.e. that we have already gone over the cliff’ with key mitigation milestones now behind us. But it also involves all that is further entailed by that unprecedented and painful shift in perspective, including a grappling with the key role of emotion, and especially grief, in productive response, including for science itself; and the opening up of crucial new arenas for scientific study, regarding what we learn from studying actual disaster responses or what future phoenix’-like civilisation(s) may look like.

Bees - their decline and even 'colony collapses' - are surely amongst the most high-profile and concerning of our current ecological crises, so it was only a matter of time before we got to discuss them on this podcast. And, in episode 11, we are joined by a singular global authority on the issue, Prof Dave Goulson. Dave is not just a leading expert on bees, their behaviours and the disastrous effects of neonicotinoid pesticides, but also among the most enthusiastic and compelling advocates for the wondrous world of insect life as a whole.  And he has much alarming news for us in his recent book ‘Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse’, which we discuss in detail. Specifically, we explore the current state of insect declines, their potential effects and predominant causes, including habitat loss and agricultural chemicals.  And, of course, we talk about what all this tells us about science and how it also needs to change to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.  But, given Dave’s prolific and successful career as a writer of popular science books (translated into numerous languages) and a stellar communicator, we also talk about the importance of this seeming ‘sideshow’ for science, as well as other dimensions of a ‘science for the Anthropocene’ that it enables, not least of which is emotional engagement with the challenges. Join the discussion about a key issue for our future; for, as Dave reminds us, without these wondrous ‘creepy crawlies’, its game over for most of life on Earth.

How can China, the authoritarian technological superpower par excellence, have anything to teach us about an increasingly common rallying cry regarding climate action and responses to the Anthropocene, namely ‘just transition’? In Episode 10, we explore precisely this question and the fascinating and counter-intuitive answer that we do indeed have much to learn from studying China; in fact, that is essential that we do so. For this crucial discussion, we are joined by Linda Westman and Ping Huang, who help us dig beneath the headlines regarding this enormous, diverse, hugely dynamic and contradictory country which is globally so important regarding environmental challenges. Join us to hear about the broad array of issues – for climate and biodiversity action, for understanding of ‘justice’ per se, and for science and how we study and support ‘just transition’ – opened up by really investigating Chinese environmental action without presuming frameworks of understanding from the West.

What is meant by the increasingly common phrase ‘more-than-human’? In Episode 9, we dive into this question, which is potentially so important for a science for the Anthropocene, by talking about… the humble chicken.  We are joined for this discussion by the brilliant Catherine Oliver, a ‘beyond-human’ geographer and lecturer in climate change and society. Now bred in their billions (and modified) for eggs and meat, a closer look at chickens proves exceptionally revealing in terms of what they reflect back to us, good and bad, about human society, with which they have co-evolved for some 10,000 years. In fact, the chicken turns out to be a remarkably different creature to the banal farmyard fowl we may imagine: on the one hand, magical birds primarily prized for their plumage, only converted into a common food comparatively recently, and now, post-Covid, with a growing movement of reconnection with them as pets; on the other, no longer ‘chickens’ at all but a new and engineered species, hence a standout symbol of the Anthropocene itself. Our wide-ranging conversation also brings in the multiple challenges of our current relations with chickens and birdlife, including the avian flu currently devastating bird populations; the environmental, social and ethical costs of our current mega-breeding of chickens; the ‘plantationocene’; multi-species urban ecologies; and much more…

In Episode 8, we stick again with the subjective side of the crises of the Anthropocene, but turning to a more explicitly sociological approach. How do the ways in which we relate to the world shape the problems of climate change and the environment? Pretty fundamentally, according to our guest, the award-winning social theorist, Hartmut Rosa. Indeed, for Rosa, this question of ‘our relations to the world’ is the key to understanding how we now find ourselves in such a mess… and is richly suggestive of what we need to do – in society more generally, and in scientific research – to get through and beyond it. Specifically, we need to recognize that what we are really seeking is the experience of ‘resonance’, with the world, with others and with ourselves. Building on this insight as basis for a reformulated conception of what the ‘good life’ really is, Rosa maps out his paradigm-shifting ‘sociology of resonance’, as in his 2019 landmark book. Join us in another wide-ranging and exciting discussion of how we can learn to see the predicament of the Anthropocene differently, and possibly more productively, including: the fundamental nature of the epidemic of acceleration and alienation in contemporary social life; the pivotal role of self-efficacy as against a sense of powerlessness, including regarding new technologies; the contradictory form of our normal relations to ‘nature’; the uncontrollability of the world; and much more…

In Episode 7 we are keeping with the theme of the mind and climate change, but turning directly to the insights available from the mind sciences: neuroscience and psychology. Discussing these issues, we are in the excellent company of Kris de Meyer, who is a neuroscientist and Director of University College London’s Climate Action Unit. In this role, Kris has led numerous important collaborations with policymakers and stakeholders, including the exceptional programme of the Net Zero Innovation Project which funds and supports collaborations between UK local authorities and universities. Combining insights from these mind sciences with careful attention to how programmes of climate science communication and policy action are actually run, and hence to many of the stand-out problems they habitually run into, Kris and colleagues have developed whole programmes leading the way in getting those working on climate to take seriously what we know about the limitations and capacities of the most fundamental instrument of all, our minds. Join us in another wide-ranging and fascinating discussion of these key lessons from and for the mind sciences as we face the challenges of the Anthropocene, including: the complex and potentially self-defeating use of appeals to fear; the ways in which polarized views are formed; the structures and career incentives of science; and much more…

In Episode 6 we welcome our first external guest, Jamie Bristow, to discuss an issue that sits at the heart of the ‘Science for the Anthropocene’ initiative: mindfulness and the ‘inner’ dimensions of sustainable transition. Specifically, we discuss the landmark report released in May 2022 by Jamie and co-authors, Rosie Bell and Professor Christine Wamsler, on ‘Reconnection: Meeting the Climate Crisis Inside Out’ (which can be easily accessed on the Mindfulness Initiative’s website). We discuss what ‘mindfulness’ is (and is not), what taking it seriously opens up regarding more promising ways to do climate action, its deep compatibility (despite more superficial incommensurability) with scientific enquiry and a new agenda for science and how we do it in responding to the problems of the Anthropocene.

In Episode 5 we welcome Professor Rebecca Willis to discuss an aspect of science for the Anthropocene, and broader action for the Anthropocene, that is increasingly pressing for society as a whole: the role of democracy in effective governance of these issues, and the flipside of the current crisis of democratic government as against an ascendant authoritarianism the world over. Drawing on her excellent book ‘Too Hot to Handle: The Democratic Challenge of Climate Change’ (Bristol UP: 2020), we discuss the need for not just more, but better, democracy if we are to meet the challenge of climate emergency, focusing specifically on the potential contribution of various forms of deliberative democracy. Tune in for an insightful discussion ranging across the full set of relationships between power and knowledge: from the role of knowledge and science in climate government and in democracy per se, to insights regarding the need for a different relationship between science and politics, to reflection on how critical social science on these issues can itself best contribute to these issues.

(Pt 2 of 2) In Episode 4 we welcome Professor Nick Graham to discuss the crucial ecosystem of coral reefs. Over the last 30 years, coral reefs have emerged as one of the front lines of ecosystems beset by the changing planet that characterises the Anthropocene.  And while catastrophic coral bleaching events due to ocean warming make the headlines, these uniquely biodiverse marine environments have been confronting a variety of anthropogenic pressures for some time. Drawing on Nick’s 25 years of highly-cited, cutting-edge research, the discussion investigates: the stark challenges to existing science of coral reefs; the need for new approaches that are pragmatic, systemic and engaging with the social sciences; the profound conceptual questions and exciting theoretical programmes opened up by these predicaments, as well as the ethical and practical challenges of juggling uncertainty; and various emerging insights that offer grounds for cautious hope.

In Episode 4 we welcome Professor Nick Graham to discuss the crucial ecosystem of coral reefs. Over the last 30 years, coral reefs have emerged as one of the front lines of ecosystems beset by the changing planet that characterises the Anthropocene.  And while catastrophic coral bleaching events due to ocean warming make the headlines, these uniquely biodiverse marine environments have been confronting a variety of anthropogenic pressures for some time. Drawing on Nick’s 25 years of highly-cited, cutting-edge research, the discussion investigates: the stark challenges to existing science of coral reefs; the need for new approaches that are pragmatic, systemic and engaging with the social sciences; the profound conceptual questions and exciting theoretical programmes opened up by these predicaments, as well as the ethical and practical challenges of juggling uncertainty; and various emerging insights that offer grounds for cautious hope.