Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana

15-17

Authors: Maristella Svampa

Vivimos un tiempo extremadamente rico en conocimientos y saturado de información, mucha más de lo que podríamos absorber y procesar en siete vidas consecutivas. El nuestro es un tiempo atravesado de crisis extensas y probables colapsos civilizatorios, que el Antropoceno, en tanto nuevo concepto-diagnóstico, no se ha cesado de anunciar. El término Antropoceno junta dos raíces provenientes del griego, ἄνθρωπος (anthropos), que significa hombre y καινός (kainos), que significa nuevo o reciente. Fue propuesto por algunos científicos eminentes para sustituir el Holoceno, y designa una nueva era geológica en la cual el hombre se convierte en una fuerza de transformación con un alcance global y geológico. El ingreso al Antropoceno significa que el ser humano y su acción, su repercusión sobre el sistema Tierra, han traspuesto un umbral crítico, visible en el calentamiento global, la extinción masiva de especies y el avance de la deforestación, entre otros tópicos. El Antropoceno designa, por ende, el ingreso a una nueva edad de la Tierra, en la cual “lo que viene no será como lo que vino antes”, como bien nos alerta la filósofa Donna Haraway.

33-54

Authors: Maristella SVAMPA

This article proposes a general presentation of the Anthropocene concept in two levels. In a general level, the general factors of the passage from the Holocene to the Anthropocene are described, the different narratives of the Anthropocene are developed, in terms of the dispute field, and it presents the debate in Latin America. At a more specific level, it propos to think about the consequences of this diagnosis in a geopolitical key. For this, the text connects the idea of Anthropocene with the expansion of the border of commodities in the periphery (neoextractivism). Likewise, it is inquired about the relational approaches in the relationship between society and nature, linked to social struggles and civilizational alternatives. Along these lines, the Indianist perspectives as well as the popular feminisms in Latin America are illustrated.

69-85

Authors: Gian Carlo DELGADO

By introducing the current socio-ecological state that has led to the proposal of the Anthropocene epoch, but also to other conceptualizations such as the global environmental change and the (ecological) planetary boundaries, this paper briefly analyses the theoretical-conceptual scope and limitations of the idea of the Anthropocene. It continues with a critical reading of the challenges that the expansion of urban space brings with it under the logic of capital accumulation; indeed, the main configuration of space under the so-called Anthropocene epoch. The speculative character of contemporary production of urban space and its main socioecological implications, which take place in an uneven manner, are thus discussed from a critical perspective of urban political geography and urban political ecology. The paper concludes with a deliberation on the basic characteristics of an eventual urban transition towards environmentally less devastating and socially fairer and more inclusive modalities of urban space production.

98-118

Authors: Dipesh CHAKRABARTY

The current planetary crisis of climate change or global warming provokes a variety of responses in individuals, groups and governments, ranging from denial, estrangement and indifference to a spirit of commitment and activism in various forms and degrees. These answers saturate our sense of the present. Alan Weisman's bestselling book, The World Without Us, proposes a mental experiment as a way of making experiences about our present: "Suppose the worst has happened. Human extinction is a fait accomplished... let us imagine a world from which we have suddenly disappeared... could we have left some scarcely visible or lasting marks in the universe?... is it possible that this world without us will miss us in spite of giving a biological relief?". I am attracted to Weisman's experiment in the way that demonstrates how the current crisis can precipitate a sense of the present that disconnects the future from the past and places it beyond the reach of historical sensibility.

132-175

Authors: AAVV

Homenaje póstumo a nuestro querido Director-Fundador: Álvaro B. Márquez-Fernández