Thomas Turnbull: ”Entering the Philanthropocene: Planetary Sciences in the Age of Rich Men”
- Date
- 12 November 2025, 14:15–16:00
- Location
- Thunberg Lecture Hall, Linneanum, Villavägen 6c, Uppsala
- Type
- Lecture
- Web page
- https://www.swedishcollegium.se/
- Organiser
- SCAS in collaboration with the Department of History of Science and Ideas, Uppsala University.
- Contact person
- Mattias Bolkéus Blom
Thomas Turnbull (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin) will give a CUSP Lecture on the topic ”Entering the Philanthropocene: Planetary Sciences in the Age of Rich Men”. The lecture will be followed by a Q&A session.
ABSTRACT:
What does it mean that Earth’s richest men have begun to turn their benificent gaze toward the management of the planet’s critical ecosystemic pressure points? Are their actions an act of altruistic largesse, an attempt to delimit distinct and self-serving pathways to our collective survival – or, are they simply involving themselves in yet another tax avoidance scheme? This talk will introduce yet another anthro-geological neologism, the Philanthropocene, an age in which it is clearly the mores, appetites, and intentions of the planet’s richest men that are recognised as not only the most damaging for the environment but also the most assertive and agentic in attempts at planetary rectification and modification.