What Role for the Sciences in Anthropocene Politics? From Latour’s Sensing Loops to Arendt’s Common Sense
Abstract
Abstract: What role should the sciences play in a politically vibrant and just response to the Anthropocene crises? To engage this question, I contrast Latour’s and Arendt’s understanding of the role of sensing and sense-making in political action. Latour’s Gaian theory (especially his “sensing loops”) privileges the scientific ontology as a starting point for terrestrial politics. In contrast, Arendt’s phenomenological approach rooted political action in embodied experience contextualized through dialogue with others: in “common sense”. Emplaced and embodied transdisciplinary inquiry, I argue, offers a fertile starting point for an epistemologically just Anthropocene politics.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy
Posthumanist Ethics and Activism
Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Theory & Event
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 177–201
- Publication date
- 1 January 2026
- Language
- EN