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This book examines the role of the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) in public and scholarly discussions of the meaning of the Anthropocene proposal. The status of the Anthropocene, both as a geoscientific concept and as a cultural concept becoming increasingly familiar in the public sphere, has been highly controversial. While geoscientists focus o...
The Anthropocene’s status as a distinct chronostratigraphic epoch has been debated among a broad spectrum of disciplines, including geology, Earth Systems Science (ESS), and environmental studies. While some scholars date its beginning to the Industrial Revolution, others suggest earlier markers, such as the advent of agriculture or human civilizat...
The Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) is a unique mission-oriented academic entity embedded in the international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) of geological sciences. The AWG’s dealings are analysed as presented in newsletters and annual reports. A timeline (2006–2023) of events and activities illustrates the AWG’s functioning, including di...
The Anthropocene proposal has been widely debated in the past 20 years across the whole academic spectrum. It forces actors from different disciplines to leave comforting long-established cultures of knowledge production to favor an active negotiation process about anthropogenic aspects beyond disciplinary boundaries. Besides these negotiation proc...
Proposing a novel geological epoch, the Anthropocene, acknowledges the impact of anthropogenic change at the planetary level and suggests that the Holocene, which began approximately 11,700 years ago, has ended. This book examines how the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG), a third-level subordinate body within the International Union of Geological S...
This chapter, borrowing from research derived from the “Anthropocene Media Project” (Sklair, The Anthropocene in global media: Neutralizing the risk, Routledge 2021), discusses how the members of the AWG engaged with individuals and institutions outside the Earth/geosciences and the consequences of these engagements for the reception of the Anthrop...
This chapter summarizes the analyses presented in this volume, focusing on the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) executing its specific mandate as a disciplinary working group within the system of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). The AWG employed an interdisciplinary methodology when amalgamating Earth System Science (ESS), geo...
This article sets out to analyze the connections between three different but related phenomena (capitalist globalization, the Anthropocene, and the coronavirus epidemic) through the lens of iconic buildings and spaces and the cities in which they are mostly found. I argue that the transnational capitalist class uses cities as competitors in a globa...
Compared with media coverage of climate change there is relatively sparse coverage of the Anthropocene. At the time of writing, only one book has been published on how the print media all over the world report the Anthropocene. There has, however, been a modest number of published research articles on the topic, mostly accessing the online content...
The concept ‘Anthropocene’ embodies some of the aspirations of geoethics as a conceptual framework for contemporary existential issues. The Anthropocene Media Project is a research project to discover how mass media worldwide are reporting the Anthropocene. The database covers about 2000 media sources of which about 40% produced at least one mentio...
The Pluriverse is the latest in a line of critical conceptual dictionaries problematizing the idea of ‘development’ from a variety of left-leaning progressive perspectives. The editors provide a lengthy set of introductions and rationales for the book, followed by a number of essays on why ‘reformist solutions’ won't work. The core of the book: ‘A...
Just as globalization was a leading idea in the social sciences from the 1990s to the first decade of the new millennium, the Anthropocene is now a serious contender to be a leading idea in the social sciences and humanities. Controversies around the origins and implications of the Anthropocene mirror those around those of globalization—are they an...
Across the social sciences and humanities, and in diverse forms of popular media around the world, discourse about the Anthropocene is proliferating. From the plastic particles found in deep sea trenches to the unfolding of Earth’s sixth mass extinction, among many other indicators—notably anthropogenic climate change—it is clear that human impacts...
Like Robinson, Sklair is critical of Amin's state-centrism, and he sees the international system of hierarchical states: “The power of capitalist hegemony today is so overwhelming (allied as it is with the military and police powers of states) that the only viable strategy for change is by a process of negating, avoiding, and eventually consigning...
The idea of a Fifth International has been around for some time and the historical record is not encouraging. We have all been wrestling with the contradictions the Left faces. The transnational capitalist class has taken setbacks in its stride, while the Left flounders almost everywhere. No communist revolution has resulted in the capture of power...
Inspired by Antonio Gramsci's analysis of bourgeois hegemony and his theoretical formulation of historical blocs, this paper attempts to explain how the concept and practice of sustainable development were captured by corporate interests in the last few decades of the twentieth century and how they were transformed into what we can name a ‘good Ant...
Aproximación de la sociología y la filosofía al estudio de los cambios sociales, de la ética y de la ciencia. Contribuciones y tareas.
This article reviews seven recent books on the Anthropocene, from which three major narratives are extracted. First, while posing problems, the Anthropocene is seen as a ‘great opportunity’ for business, science and technology; second, it is recognised that the planet and humanity itself are in danger, but if we are clever enough we can save oursel...
In the last quarter century, a new form of iconic architecture has appeared throughout the world's major cities. Typically designed by globe-trotting "starchitects" or by a few large transnational architectural firms, these projects are almost always funded by the private sector in the service of private interests. Whereas in the past monumental ar...
This chapter sets out to explore the theoretical and substantive connections between iconicity and consumerism in the field of contemporary architecture and urban design. The culture-ideology of consumerism refers to a set of beliefs and values, integral to the system of global capitalism, intended to make people believe that human worth is best cr...
The globalizing professionals and technical personnel that make up the professional fraction of the transnational capitalist class (TCC) in architecture are a very mixed group, ranging from those who work with (or for) those who own and control the major architectural firms to those engaged in facilitating construction (Kennedy 2005; Ren 2011), the...
This chapter aims to fill in the substance of the first component of the corporate fraction of the transnational capitalist class (TCC) in architecture and urban design, the major architecture firms. While the starchitects and signature architects who produce unique architectural icons have attracted most media attention, they are a very small grou...
In previous publications I have set out a theoretical framework to guide substantive research on this qualitatively new phase of capitalism in global perspective (Sklair 2001, 2002). This framework identifies the basic unit of analysis as transnational practices, practices that cross existing state borders and whose agents and institutions include...
Most architects and urban designers would work as creatively to provide a built environment fit for an alternative globalization as they currently do for the system of capitalist globalization. But questions about the role that architecture might play in creating alternative non-capitalist and non-consumerist forms of human settlements are of limit...
The political fraction of the transnational capitalist class (TCC) in architecture and urban design is made up of national, international, and transnational politicians and officials at all levels of administrative power and responsibility. They operate in communities, cities, states, and international and global institutions. They make decisions o...
The debate around iconic architecture has been undermined by the general failure to recognize that there are and probably always have been two forms of iconicity in terms of fame and symbolic/ aesthetic significance. These are (1) unique icons (buildings recognized as works of art in their own right) and (2) typical icons (buildings successfully co...
Although some find it unpleasant and others find it flippant, the term ‘starchitect’ is theoretically useful for the sociology of architecture. It connects the world of the architect with the world of celebrity, and it connects architecture as an esoteric aesthetic practice with architecture as an industry in the public eye. Over the last few year...
List of Figures and Tables. Preface and Acknowledgments. 1. Introduction:Global System Theory. Four Propositions on the Transnational Capitalist Class. Structure of the Book. 2. Globalizing Class Theory:Theorizing the Dominant Class. Structure and Dynamics of the Transnational Capitalist Class. Dominant Classes and Dominated Groups. 'National' Inte...
This paper attempts to rethink and globalize the concept of the capitalist class, to suggest ways in which this class uses social movements, and to explore what might come after capitalist globalization and the hegemony of the transnational capitalist class (TCC). The first section of the paper provides evidence that there is now a flourishing comm...
This article-a product of current research on iconic architecture and capitalist globalization-argues that iconicity in general, and in architecture and urban design in particular is a telling case study of how the four fractions of the transnational capitalist class (corporate, political, professional, and consumerist) act to sustain and enlarge t...
Queries Queries from the Production Editor are listed on the last page of the proof. The text to which the queries refer is indicated on the proof by numbers (e.g. Q1) in the margin. Please ensure these are answered in full. Corrections You are responsible for the contents of your paper. We can only publish your paper after we have received your ex...
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) are umbrella terms that refer to organizations not directly controlled by the state or governments, mostly concerned with human rights of various kinds (including civic and political, economic and social, and environmental rights), professional and occupati...
While they are often used interchangeably, the idea of the global economy should be clearly distinguished from the idea of the international economy. The international economy refers to the sum of all the relations between the national economies of all the countries in the world, particularly binational and multinational exchanges, whereas the glob...
Capitalist globalization is defined as the phase of capitalism in which the transnational capitalist class (TCC) gradually takes a leading role in the global system. The TCC consists of four overlapping fractions, dominated by the corporate (those who own and/or control transnational corporations and their local affiliates). The analysis highlights...
This paper attempts to construct a theory connecting capitalist globalization and iconic architecture. Iconic architecture is defined as buildings and spaces that are famous for professional architects and/or the public at large and have special symbolic/aesthetic significance attached to them. The drivers of capitalist globalization are conceptual...
This article-a product of current research on iconic architecture and capitalist globalization-argues that iconicity in general, and in architecture and urban design in particular is a telling case study of how the four fractions of the transnational capitalist class (corporate, political, professional, and consumerist) act to sustain and enlarge t...
This chapter explores the role of iconic architecture in the development and promotion of urban megaprojects (UMPs) in globalizing cities. Iconic architecture is defined in terms of fame and aesthetic/symbolic significance. The argument is framed within the concept of the culture-ideology of consumerism. While the focus is on two case studies – the...
Mandarin Chinese version of: Sklair, Leslie (2002) "Globalization: capitalism and its alternatives." Blackwell Publishing, Oxford. ISBN 9780631224617
Translated by Guangyan Liang.
This paper attempts to construct a theory connecting capitalist globalization and iconic architecture. Iconic architecture is defined as buildings and spaces that are famous for professional architects and/or the public at large and have special symbolic/aesthetic significance attached to them. The drivers of capitalist globalization are conceptual...
China's rise as a global power is one of the major economic and political developments of the past fifty years. One seemingly inevitable outcome of industrialization is urbanization, and this definitive study surveys the key aspects of China's massive wave of urbanization with an emphasis on the changes to the quality of life of urban dewellers. Wi...
Identifying the drivers of actually existing capitalist globalization as the transnational capitalist class, this paper suggests that theory and research on its agents and institutions could help us to explain how the dominant forms of contemporary iconic architecture arise and how they serve the interests of globalizing capitalists. We define icon...
The transnational capitalist class (TCC) as a theoretical concept and an empirical reality has its origins in theories of capitalist globalization developed since the 1960s. Traditional Marxist theories of the international bourgeoisie tend to be conceptualized in state-centrist terms and to focus mainly on business leaders, usually big capitalists...
The culture-ideology of consumerism refers to the transformation of excessively above-subsistence consumption from a sectional practice of the rich throughout human history to a globalizing phenomenon directed at the mass of the population. Its emergence can be explained in terms of two central factors, factors that are historically unprecedented....
The term transnational corporation (TNC) basically refers to a business enterprise that operates in more than one country though most definitions will stipulate a minimum number of countries and a minimum set of functions (usually production, marketing and sales). The TNC is widely considered to be the driving force of capitalist globalization. Res...
Architecture, like most other industries and forms of artistic expression, has in recent decades been globalized both directly — in what has come to be known as global architecture — and indirectly, by the transnational migration of specific local or regional architectural forms. The spread of what is known as international modernism as an architec...
The transnational capitalist class (TCC) as a theoretical concept and an empirical reality has its origins in theories of capitalist globalization developed since the 1960s. Traditional Marxist theories of the international bourgeoisie tend to be conceptualized in state-centrist terms and to focus mainly on business leaders, usually big capitalists...
The culture-ideology of consumerism refers to the transformation of excessively above-subsistence consumption from a sectional practice of the rich throughout human history to a globalizing phenomenon directed at the mass of the population. Its emergence can be explained in terms of two central factors, factors that are historically unprecedented....
The material, ideological, and symbolic roles of architecture in the formation and/or the expression of identities is a fairly well established, even if under-researched, motif in the histories of both architecture and politics. My argument is that buildings and spaces that become acknowledged expressions of local/urban, national, or global identit...
Historically, there have been many ways to effect transitions from one form of society to another. I begin this discussion with the assumption that the only way of making a successful transition from capitalist globalization to socialist globalization will be through a democratic process in which capitalist forms of democracy are themselves transfo...
This article outlines how the twin crises of capitalist globalization — of class polarization and ecological unsustainability — combine to produce the need for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to attempt to bridge the gap between the rhetoric and reality of corporate conduct. The first section outlines how CSR relates to capitalist globalizati...
International Relations has struggled to escape the limitations of state centrism. Building on a transnational approach to globalisation, this paper seeks to show that the concept of transnational practices provides a better tool to analyze and explain the contemporary world than the concept of international relations.
Questions
Questions (4)
I AM EDITING A BOOK ABOUT HOW THE MEDIA ALL ROUND THE WORLD ARE REPORTING THE ANTHROPOCENE. I AM VERY INTERESTED IN YOUR PROJECT, CAN YOU SEND ME INFORMATION, THANKS, LESLIE SKLAIR, EMERITUS PROFESSOR, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS
I am writing a chapter on how the Anthropocene may be replacing Globalization (on which I have written a great deal) as the dominant discourse in the social sciences, humanities and creative arts. I came across your work from the AWG Newsletter and your talk at the Venice Biennale in 2013. I hope we can exchange ideas.
best wishes,
Emeritus Professor Leslie Sklair, London School of Ecoomics [l.sklair@lse.ac.uk]
I am also interested in your concept of 'science education' - does it include the way the mass media cover science, specifically the Anthropocene. This is the topic of a research project I am coordinating at present (one of my findings is that there is a proposal to include the Anthropocene in the curriculum for high school students in the Philippines). If you are interested, I can send you details.
best wishes,
LESLIE SKLAIR, LSE (l.sklair@lse.ac.uk)
