The ideal of freedom in the Anthropocene: A new crisis of legitimation and the brutalization of geo-social conflicts
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The ideal of freedom in the Anthropocene : A new crisis of legitimation and the brutalization of geo-social conflicts. / Carleheden, Mikael; Schultz, Nikolaj Christian Busk.
In: Thesis Eleven, Vol. 170, No. 1, 2022, p. 99-116 .Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The ideal of freedom in the Anthropocene
T2 - A new crisis of legitimation and the brutalization of geo-social conflicts
AU - Carleheden, Mikael
AU - Schultz, Nikolaj Christian Busk
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Modern social orders are legitimized by the ideal of freedom. Most conceptions of this ideal are theorized against the backdrop of nature understood as governed by its own laws beyond the realm of the social. However, such an understanding of nature is now being challenged by the ‘Anthropocene’ hypothesis. This article investigates the consequences of this hypothesis for freedom as an ideal legitimizing social order. We begin by discussing the conception of legitimation, after which we examine three classical notions of freedom (developed by Hobbes, Kant, and Hegel), in light of the Anthropocene. Following our claim that these notions all have severe weaknesses in view of the Anthropocene, we argue that modern social orders are facing a new legitimation crisis. Such a crisis, we suggest, involves a ‘brutalization of social conflicts’, which under the conditions of the Anthropocene assumes the form of geo-social conflict.
AB - Modern social orders are legitimized by the ideal of freedom. Most conceptions of this ideal are theorized against the backdrop of nature understood as governed by its own laws beyond the realm of the social. However, such an understanding of nature is now being challenged by the ‘Anthropocene’ hypothesis. This article investigates the consequences of this hypothesis for freedom as an ideal legitimizing social order. We begin by discussing the conception of legitimation, after which we examine three classical notions of freedom (developed by Hobbes, Kant, and Hegel), in light of the Anthropocene. Following our claim that these notions all have severe weaknesses in view of the Anthropocene, we argue that modern social orders are facing a new legitimation crisis. Such a crisis, we suggest, involves a ‘brutalization of social conflicts’, which under the conditions of the Anthropocene assumes the form of geo-social conflict.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - Anthropocene
KW - Freedom
KW - legitimation crisis
KW - social struggles
U2 - 10.1177/07255136221104293
DO - 10.1177/07255136221104293
M3 - Journal article
VL - 170
SP - 99
EP - 116
JO - Thesis Eleven
JF - Thesis Eleven
SN - 0725-5136
IS - 1
ER -
ID: 308891100