Writing Planetary History – the Case of the Soyacene

Description

The lecture discusses the possibilities and limits of writing planetary history using the example of soy, a key commodity of global capitalism that achieved planetary impact in the long 20th century (ca. 1870-2020). Global soy expansion directly or indirectly fuels deforestation, toxification, genetic engineering, greenhouse gas emissions, and species extinction. The ‘Anthropocene’ can also be understood as the ‘Soyacene’. A planetary history of the ‘Soyacene’ affects both content and form of historiography. In terms of content, ‘more-than-human’ (post-anthropocentric, posthumanist, neo-materialist, etc.) concepts are evaluated regarding their connectivity to humanist concepts. The focus here is on agro-food regimes, commodity frontiers, and actor-networks. In formal terms, conventional and alternative forms of historical writing are weighed up against each other. These fundamental considerations ultimately serve the pragmatic requirements of an ongoing book project.

Period	05 Sept 2024
Event title	Writing (Hi)stories in the Anthropocene
Event type	Conference
Location	GermanyShow on map