Anthropocene, environmental crisis, and cannibal capitalism
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Abstract
This article examines the premise that the concepts of the Anthropocene and the related notions of risk, limit, and resilience – while introducing new elements to the debate on the ongoing environmental and climate crises – reveal theoretical, epistemological, and, above all, political limitations regarding how these crises are addressed. Such limitations stem from the fact that incorporating human activity as a risk factor fosters a certain naturalization of the causes of these crises, expressed in the relativization of risks and boundaries, as well as in a generic, conservative, and functionalist concept of resilience. This study examines theoretical frameworks surrounding the concept of the Anthropocene, highlighting the contributions of Bruno Latour and Nancy Fraser. It argues that these constraints hinder the objective identification of processes and accountabilities behind the crises, thereby impeding the formulation of political strategies aimed at transforming the conditions of production and reproduction of the system. The primary contribution of this work lies in identifying gaps and biases within organizational studies and public policy that reinforce the conservative narrative that the crisis-generating system is inherently capable of resolving them. Theoretical and conceptual ambiguity thus operates as a political mechanism that sustains the reproduction and legitimacy of cannibal capitalism.
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