The Constant Rigor of the Anthropocene

This chapter concludes the book by examining the Anthropocene in light of the tragic and the cruciform imaginary. In response to Anthropocene realities that relate individual lives and choices to epochal planetary changes, some have argued that humans are like gods, should embrace their now-recognizable world-changing power, and should pursue “the good Anthropocene.” This chapter argues, instead, that the tragic is a key feature of the Anthropocene, in which some creative possibilities must be foregone, given up, or undermined in order to embrace others. This constancy of the tragic demands a response that embraces the “constant rigor” of responsible action and the pursuit of a “humane Anthropocene.”

The Symbolism of the Tragic

This chapter argues that modern environmental thought has consistently been preoccupied with the tragic. Drawing upon the work of Paul Ricoeur, the chapter explores the ways in which common themes in modern environmental thought symbolize the need to give up, undermine, or destroy one or more goods in order to possess one or more other goods. Specifically, scarcity (which has preoccupied modern environmental thought from its beginnings), tragedy (as explored in literature on the tragedy of the commons), and risk (a measure of the likelihood that certain costs will be incurred) each simultaneously illuminate and mask aspects of our relationship to the tragic.

The Cruciform Imaginary

This chapter explores the role of social imaginaries in revealing the tragic, justifying responses to the tragic, and patterning legitimate courses of action in the face of the tragic. It examines the rise of religious imaginaries, in particular, as frameworks for environmental thought and governance. Finally, drawing upon the work of Dietrrich Bonhoeffer, the chapter sketches the contours of a religious imaginary by which we might apprehend the tragic, justify certain choices in the face of the tragic, and pattern or teach appropriate responses to the tragic. This “cruciform imaginary” encourages us to bear the costs of the tragic so that others might benefit from possessing or securing more goods at once.

The Macondoization of the World

This chapter argues that globalization has made possible both environmental catastrophe, as symbolized by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and attempts to grasp and manage environmental change at the global level. Governing global environmental challenges in the face of the tragic requires some good by which we may discriminate between competing and often incommensurable goods, some mechanism for apprehending the tragic, justifying certain choices in the face of the tragic, and patterning or teaching acceptable responses to the tragic. The rise of religious imaginaries in global governance has opened the door further to religious ways of thinking about the tragic in global environmental governance.

The Gardeners’ Dirty Hands

Drawing on examples of urban air pollution and soil pollution, this chapter describes our experience of common environmental challenges in terems of “the tragic,” suggesting that the governance of brownfields and of emissions from coal-fired electricity generation involves the need to give up, undermine, forego, or destroy one or more goods in order to possess or secure one or more other goods. Drawing upon the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others, the chapter begins to frame such problems in light of Christian theology and ethics, and points to a new beginning for environmental politics in light of the symbol of the cross.