Anthropocene Antarctica: Perspectives from the Humanities, Law and Social Sciences

Description

Anthropocene Antarctica offers new ways of thinking about the ‘Continent for Science and Peace’ in a time of planetary environmental change. In the Anthropocene, Antarctica has become central to the Earth’s future. Ice cores taken from its interior reveal the deep environmental history of the planet and warming ocean currents are ominously destabilising the glaciers around its edges, presaging sea-level rise in decades and centuries to come. At the same time, proliferating research stations and tourist numbers challenge stereotypes of the continent as the ‘last wilderness.’ The Anthropocene brings Antarctica nearer in thought, entangled with our everyday actions. If the Anthropocene signals the end of the idea of Nature as separate from humans, then the Antarctic, long considered the material embodiment of this idea, faces a radical reframing. Understanding the southern polar region in the twenty-first century requires contributions across the disciplinary spectrum. This collection paves the way for researchers in the Environmental Humanities, Law and Social Sciences to engage critically with the Antarctic, fostering a community of scholars who can act with natural scientists to address the globally significant environmental issues that face this vitally important part of the planet. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of illustrations Acknowledgements List of contributors Foreword 1. Anthropocene Antarctica: Approaches, issues and debates Antarctica in the Anthropo-scene Antarctica and the HLSS disciplines * Notes References PART 1: Governance and geopolitics 2. Governing Antarctica in the Anthropocene Introduction What is the Anthropocene? What does the Anthropocene mean for the way we see Antarctica? What does the Anthropocene mean for understanding Antarctica as a managed place? What might an Antarctic Treaty System best suited for the Anthropocene look like? Conclusions Acknowledgments Notes References 3. Subglacial nationalisms Introduction Antarctic nationalisms Ice core drill sites Ice cores and nationalism in the ‘Australian Antarctic Territory’ Conclusion: reflections on the contemporary Antarctic Notes Acknowledgements References 4. Frozen Eden lost? Exploring discourses of geoengineering Antarctica Antarctica, climate change and geoengineering discourse The enhanced reflectivity discourse The enhanced carbon sequestration discourse The glacial stabilisation discourse Geoengineering discourse and Antarctic governance Conclusion Note References 5. The Anthropocene melt: Antarctica’s geologic politics Introduction Geologic politics in Antarctica The melting of the cryosphere: ice as the ‘stuff of time’ Conclusions: an ethics of ‘response-ability’ for Antarctica in the Anthropocene References PART 2: Cultural texts and representations 6. Ice and the ecothriller: Popular representations of Antarctica in the Anthropocene The rise of the Antarctic (eco)thriller Global plot, local action Ice as nonhuman actor in the ecothriller Deadlines, countdowns and the future of Antarctica Notes References 7. Listening ‘at the sea ice edge’: Compositions based on soundscape recordings made in Antarctica Introduction Douglas Quin Philip Samartzis Conclusions Notes References 8. Save the penguins: Antarctic advertising and the PR of protection Mobilising multiple framings of Antarctica Frozen imagery and ‘ice-wash’ Saving ice: Antarctica and the rhetoric of protection How to change to a globe: Westpac and the Equator Principles Melting ice: double takes and double meanings Final reflections on a fragile continent Notes References PART 3: Inhabitations and place 9. Indigenising the heroic era of Antarctic exploration Traditional knowledge and Antarctic exploration Indigenous technologies Indigenous inhabitants? An absent presence Conclusions Notes References 10. Populating Antarctica: Chilean families in the frozen continent Commercial exploitation of Antarctica? The project becomes reality Antarctic families, Antarctic babies Living on the icy continent Unexpected friendships Conclusions Notes References 11. Placing the past: The McMurdo Dry Valleys and the problem of geographical specificity in Antarctic history Introduction The politics of place The science and technology of place The management of place Conclusions References PART 4: Conclusion 12. Antarctica looking forward Index