Society in the Anthropocene Conference

24 June 2013, 9 am

Clifton Hill House, University of Bristol, Lower Clifton Hill, Bristol BS8 1BT

While the physical and natural sciences offer clear contributions to understanding the Anthropocene - the geological age in which humans are the dominant force shaping the planet - the role and value of the social sciences in understanding this agenda have been little explored.

The Cabot Institute will host a major international conference - Society in the Anthropocene – on 24 and 25 June 2013, to address and discuss these questions across the social science disciplines.

The conference brings socio-legal, political, sociological, anthropological and geographical perspectives to issues such as global environmental uncertainty, carbon politics, new patterns of urban resilience and global containment, and changing relationships between human and non-human worlds. Our aim in hosting this conference is to generate innovative understandings of the Anthropocene and its emergent constellations of life and knowledge. As a participant, there will be numerous opportunities to contribute your views, react to the material presented and form new research relationships.

The conference will take place on 24 and 25 June 2013, at the University of Bristol, and is open to academics from a broad range of disciplines and all career stages. The event is being supported by the journal Economy and Society and the Cabot Institute. Professor Wendy Larner (School of Geographical Sciences) and Professor Tom Osborne (School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies) are convening the conference. Professor Mark Duffield, recently retired head of the Global Insecurities Centre, will give the evening keynote lecture on 24 June.

The event will take place in the historic Clifton Hill House and the Orangery at Goldney Hall. Directions to Clifton Hill House. [PDF, 72 KB]