Проф. André Francisco Pilon
Today's world is characterized by severe health problems,environmental degradation, predatory exploitation of natural assets, deforestation, desertification and geopolitical hegemonies related to oil and gas, while climate calamities, object of repeated scientific events, become evident and are continuously witnessed by ordinary people. There is a dissonance between the legal framework, international conventions and the practices of political and economic groups that endorse the abuse of nature, devastating huge areas through logging, mining, industrial chemical production and “commodities”; indigenous and preservation areas are constantly at risk of invasions. The evils attributed to the “Anthropocene” are not the responsibility of all humanity; the main culprits, who have the political and economic power to shape the forms of production and consumption and define lifestyles, must be distinguished from the majority of the population, whose power to change things cannot be compared with those. “Systemic” interpretations, supported by theories of “complexity” and the “Anthropocene” as a new era in human history, may inadvertently obscure the role and effective action of people and groups that control economics and politics in today's world, who find an easy excuse to decline their responsibilities in the destinies of humanity. Publishing scientific reports, teaching and learning about essentially the same problems, but unimplemented solutions, reminds us that we should take into account the supremacy of political and economic groups which have a tough voice in propaganda, in the media, in finances and in the academic world. It is necessary to pay attention to the complexity and multi-institutionality of the challenges presented by technological development; solutions must start with the right models for deep institutional transformation. A new model of technological change, a reconceptualization of the role of technology in society is needed. Scientists and scientific advisers should take every opportunity to join politicians in debating with them in public bodies and the media (broadcasting, television and print) and freely express their opinions on current issues, especially when they are contaminated by dominant political and economic interests at odds with scientific evidence. Instead of trying to appease voters, shareholders, and politicians with the least disruptive approach possible, real systemic change is needed.The focus should not be on the “bubbles” of the surface (consequences, fragmented issues), but on the configurations deep inside the “boiling pot” where the problems emerge. Instead of dealing with the bubbles (segmented, reduced issues) and instead of trying to solve isolated and localized problems without addressing the general phenomenon, problems should be defined and dealt with deep inside the “boiling pot”, encompassing the current “world-system” with its boundaries, structures, techno-economic paradigms, support groups, rules of legitimization, and coherence. In the socio-cultural learning niches, heuristic-hermeneutic experiences can generate awareness, interpretation and understanding beyond established stereotypes, from a thematic (“what” is at stake), an epistemic (“how” to understand and define the events) and a strategic (who, when, where) point of view. Evaluation and planning, advocacy, communication, public policies, research and teaching programmes, should combine all dimensions of being-in-the-world (intimate, interactive, social and biophysical), as they intertwine, as donors and recipients, to induce the events (deficits/assets), cope with consequences (desired/undesired) and contribute for change (potential outputs).
Ref.: PILON, A. F., Re-framing Relationships between Humans and the Earth: The "Anthropocene", a New Ideology to Justify the Status Quo? MPRA Munich Personal RePEc Archive, 2023. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/119041/1/MPRA_paper_119041.pdf
