Organizing in the Anthropocene. (July 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wright, Christopher; Nyberg, Daniel; Rickards, Lauren; Freund, James
• Other Names: Wright Christopher guest-editor.; Nyberg Daniel guest-editor.; Rickards Lauren guest-editor.; Freund James guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Organization. Volume 25:Number 4(2018:Jul.)
• Page Start: 455
• Page End: 471
• Publication Date: 2018-07
• Subjects: Anthropocene -- capitalism -- Earth systems -- narratives -- organizing; Organizational sociology -- Periodicals; Organization -- Periodicals; 302.35
• DOI: 10.1177/1350508418779649
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1350-5084

Abstract

The functioning of the biosphere and the Earth as a whole is being radically disrupted due to human activities, evident in climate change, toxic pollution and mass species extinction. Financialization and exponential growth in production, consumption and population now threaten our planet's life-support systems. These profound changes have led Earth System scientists to argue we have now entered a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene. In this introductory article to the Special Issue, we first set out the origins of the Anthropocene and some of the key debates around this concept within the physical and social sciences. We then explore five key organizing narratives that inform current economic, technological, political and cultural understandings of the Anthropocene and link these to the contributions in this Special Issue. We argue that the Anthropocene is the crucial issue for organizational scholars to engage with in order to not only understand on-going anthropogenic problems but also help create alternative forms of organizing based on realistic Earth–human relations.