Anthropocene or Plasticene? Material Agents of a Plasticized Planet
Journal
Athena: Philosophical Studies
ISSN
1822-5047
ISSN-Digital
2538-7294
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2025-12-30
Author(s)
Abstract
The paper explores the possibility of shifting from the notion of the Anthropocene to that of the Plasticene. The latter does not aspire to substitute the former by replicating its universalist pretensions; on the contrary, the Plasticene presents itself as a '(x)cene' , that is, as one of the many Anthropocene alternatives that are overtly partial, minor, perspectival, and composable. The Plasticene hypothesis rests on the observation that plastics can become embedded in the soil, thereby constituting a potential marker horizon. The paper develops this hypothesis into a philosophical theory characterized by the epistemologically complex expression of a nonhuman and material perspective, and by a chronopolitical attempt to open the future in non-linear ways. Methodologically, it adopts a bottom-up approach: by closely considering a Plasticenic figure - the plastic rock, framed as an onto-political geobody with a non-human subjectivity - it progressively enlarges its view and derives concepts and categories of the Plasticene as a comprehensive framework. Such categories encompass those of material agency, material plasticity, and anachronistic futurity.
Funding(s)
The research for this article has received funding from the Universität St. Gallen (HSG) – Grundlagenforschungsfond (GFF) in the framework of the Great Minds Program. Project title: “Framing the Plasticene: An Environmental Perspective on the Pervasiveness of Plastics”. Grant number: 1031626.
Language
English (United States)
Keywords
Plasticene
planetarity
material agency
plastic geobody
plasticity
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Lithuanian Culture Research Institute
Volume
20
Start page
175
End page
194
Subject(s)
Division(s)
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
Athene_C_280.pdf
Size
1.53 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
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