Solander, Sparrman, and the Anthropocene

This public lecture presents the fascinating modern idea of ‘the Environment’ – in common usage today a word with a distinct meaning to most of us around the world – and its little known history as a concept that appears in earnest only right after World War II and within a couple of decades reaches global fame and considerable usefulness. No less fascinating is the fact that after the ‘the Environment’ came into established circulation it met with increasing conceptual competition. Words such as Gaia, Earth Systems, Resilience, and not least the Anthropocene have made claims on describing the human-earth relationship.

Sverker Sörlin is Professor of Environmental History in the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. He is a member of the official Swedish Climate Policy Council since 2018 and a co-author or co-editor of a large number of books.

Venue: Te Papa, 55 Cable Street, Wellington

For more information and for tickets: www.friendsoftepapa.org.nz/event/solander-sparrman-and-the-anthropocene/