Skrimshire, SA (2019) Deep Time and Secular Time: a Critique of the Environmental Long View. Theory, Culture and Society, 36 (1). pp. 63-81. ISSN 0263-2764
Abstract
The Anthropocene concept allows human history to be imagined within the temporal framework of planetary processes. Accordingly, some environmentalists increasingly favour massively lengthening the temporal horizons of moral concern. Whilst there are defensible reasons for doing so, I wish to take issue with the ‘secular time’ perspective underlying some such approaches. To make my case, I present, in the first section, two recent manifestations of the long view perspective: a) ‘deep future’ narratives in popular climate science and futurism; b) the ideas behind the Long Now Foundation. In the second section, I apply a critical lens to these perspectives via classic analyses of secular time by Charles Taylor, Hannah Arendt and Giorgio Agamben. I conclude by suggesting that these post-secular critiques should be considered alongside recent approaches to the Anthropocene and the ‘geological turn’ from new materialist perspectives.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2018. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Theory, Culture and Society. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Anthropocene; Arendt; Benjamin; climate change; deep time; future; geological turn; new materialism; secularism; Taylor |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > Theology and Religious Studies (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 20 Jun 2018 11:52 |
Last Modified: | 07 Aug 2019 16:08 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0263276418777307 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:132322 |