Anthropocene disorder and the transcultural search for common-ness

Abstract

In this article I seek a new way to understand the Anthropocene and its ecological crisis. I argue that we must first deconstruct the mainstream Herderian concept of culture, as it seems inadequate to capture how we deal with our life circumstances and choices, especially on the level of global events like the Anthropocene. I also suggest that the concept of transculturality may serve the purpose of understanding this situation better and may even offer a prospect of a process that might induce the common-ness that we are lacking as a species. After discussing the Anthropocene concept, I examine the idea of the search for a common-ness of humanity as a remedy for Anthropocene disorder. Finally, I present an overview of new universalist approaches to the Anthropocene and propose that the concept of transculturality as advanced by Wolfgang Welsch may provide a better basis for understanding the Anthropocene as a human predicament.