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 on possible geological markers andperiodisation< pan style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, the social sciences, environmental humanities, and creative arts have taken up the Anthropocene as a cultural concept to make sense of the planetary environmental crisis and contemporary society. This book documents intra-, inter-, and transdisciplinary debates, particularly, although not limited to, how different scholarly disciplines have responded to the Anthropocene proposal. The authors analyse how the AWG has become the focal point of a debate that straddles the boundaries between academic disciplines and public perceptions of science. The AWG thus serves as a case of the globalisation of science in terms of the global interconnectedness of scientific disciplines and the cultural significance of the Anthropocene proposal.
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