- Title: [Plenary Session of The 2nd ISAS] The Great Acceleration: An Idea and Its Development
- When: September 2, 2024
- Where: Chung Kunmo Conference Hall, KAIST
- Who: Martin J. Head (Distinguished Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Brock University, Canada)
The term ‘Great Acceleration’ describes unprecedented increases in the growth rates and magnitudes of human activities after World War II, and their linkage with overwhelming impacts on the Earth System. This relationship was underscored in 2004 when indicators of both the human enterprise and the Earth System appeared in graphs that showed the transformative effect of these human impacts on the Earth System and its functioning. Converging post-war intellectual, technological, cultural, political, financial and legal conditions provided the framework for this transformation. Placed in the context of Paul Crutzen’s (2000) proposed Anthropocene epoch, and with the emergence of evidence for globally correlatable strata deposited the mid-20th century, it became clear by 2015 that the onset of the Great Acceleration and that of the Anthropocene should be linked, with the Great Acceleration justifying the Anthropocene in rank as well as timing. In many respects, the Great Acceleration, as originally conceived to mark the interval of rapid growth rates in second half of the twentieth century, has transformed into a new and variable state that might be called the ‘Great Continuation’. On March 5, 2024, the New York Times reported that “a panel of experts voted down a proposal to officially declare the start of a new interval of geologic time, one defined by humanity’s changes to the planet”. The announcement was made by the Secretary-Generals of both the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). The background to this announcement and subsequent promotion by the ICS/IUGS of its narrative will be discussed.
◼︎The 2nd International Symposium on Anthropocene Studies (September 2-4, 2024, KAIST)
◼︎Main Theme: Projecting the Anthropocene: A Multidisciplinary Approach
◼︎Purpose: The Earth system has become increasingly destabilized, with growing evidence that human activities are the primary cause. However, our current financial, economic, social, political, and industrial systems are not evolving fast enough to address the pace and scale of planetary change. The concept of the Anthropocene (인류세, 人類世) has provided a novel framework for debating scientific methods of sensing these transformations, discussing more-than-human ways of inhabiting together, and exploring artistic imaginations for alternative futures. This symposium will bring together experts from various disciplines, including Earth sciences, biological sciences, electrical engineering, mobility studies, humanities, social sciences, industrial design, new media art, and documentary production, to project our better futures in the Anthropocene.
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