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INfAST is particularly committed to developing three research projects in the period of 2021-2027:
Anthropocene Knowledge LAB.
Today there is an increasing number of extreme (meteorological, climatic) events – heat waves, droughts, torrential rains, floods, sandstorms, landslides, forest fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. – which appear to be induced, at least in part, by human action.
Today, too, the risks of such extreme (meteorological, climatic) events are increasing. These risks are understood in a double sense. First in relation to the frequency of these events, that is, its tendency to appear. Then in relation to the degree of their impact, that is, how they damage the natural and social environments in which they occur. There is a growing perception that natural disasters have dramatic social repercussions and can become humanitarian catastrophes.
The latter also seems to be more frequent and with a higher degree of risk of occurring and causing greater damage to individuals, families and societies. In addition, humanitarian catastrophes caused by extreme events (meteorological, climatic) have emerged in a more abrupt and violent way, pushing for faster decision-making and actions to help victims and rebuild devastated natural and social environments. In this context, several technologies, in particular the so-called “humanitarian technologies” can make a valuable contribution to this end.
The Anthropocene Knowledge LAB, therefore, operates on three levels. At the theoretical level, look for ways to determine which extreme events (meteorological, climatic) are actually triggered anthropogenically. At the theoretical-practical level, evaluates the risk patterns of occurrence and impact of events of this type. On a practical level, designs and develops humanitarian technologies for use in contexts of emergencies from natural social disasters.
REHUMAN-Rethinking the Human Condition in the Anthropocene Technosphere.
This project is based on two premises. The first is that the Anthropocene is a paradoxical civilizational event. On the one hand, we have become globally aware that the human species has acquired the power to be owner and master of our planet. On the other hand, we also realize that this same power can be used to end Nature, Civilization and Humanity, or, at least, to change its state radically and dramatically. The second is that the realization of this power requires technological mediation and, more than that, the construction of a Technosphere with a planetary dimension. Without the latter, the Anthropocene seems impossible. Anthropocene and Technosphere are, therefore, the two sides of the same phenomenon.
These two general premises bear the concluion that our way of being in the world, the human condition, is in a process of significant transformation. The research being carried out in this project is focused on the critical examination of this ongoing transformation, especially the meaning of being born, growing up, working, interacting with others and die in this all-pervading and ever present artificial medium called Tecnosphere.
CARMENTA: Climate Fiction in the Anthropocene.
This project was named after a figure from ancient mythology. Carmenta was born in Arcadia, Greece, where she was known as Nicostrata, but when she moved to Italy she changed her name. It is said of her that she invented the Latin alphabet and also that she was a sacred midwife, protective of women during childbirth. However, this goddess is mainly known for her gifts of anticipation of the future, in particular the technological innovations to come.
It is a project that aims to be a valuable contribution to the Anthropocene Studies through an inquiry into Literature. Based on the assumption that we have already moved from the Holocene to the Anthropocene, this project focuses on the future of the Anthropocene. It therefore explores the terrain in which literature moves best, that of the imagination.
In particular, it is a project dedicated to the study of an emerging and rapidly expanding literary subgenre of “climate fiction”. Its appearance, at the turn of the millennium, coincided with that of the Anthropocene itself. Unlike traditional science fiction, its narratives are not based on imaginary technologies or planets in distant galaxies, but rather on how geoclimatic events such as the impact of pollution, rising sea levels or global warming affect the human condition and civilization.
The CARMENTA project aims, broadly, to explore literary contemporary texts focused on ecocritical concerns, and to analyze concepts such as Ecofeminism, Ecothriller, Ecopoetics, Wilderness, Nature Writing, Urban Ecology and Eco-pastoralism. More specifically, it seeks: (a) to develop a thematic cartography of climate fiction, that is, to identify the main thematic nuclei of this subgenre; (b) to analyze the spectrum of anthropocentric and post-anthropocentric utopian and dystopian scenarios that inhabit climate fiction works, making us understand, to some extent, what we can expect from our near (and not so near) future; (c) to consider the dimension of ethical learning inherent in these texts, not only in favor of raising awareness about environmental, climatic and ecological problems, but also as a call for activism through Literature.
Anthropocene Knowledge LAB.
Today there is an increasing number of extreme (meteorological, climatic) events – heat waves, droughts, torrential rains, floods, sandstorms, landslides, forest fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. – which appear to be induced, at least in part, by human action.
Today, too, the risks of such extreme (meteorological, climatic) events are increasing. These risks are understood in a double sense. First in relation to the frequency of these events, that is, its tendency to appear. Then in relation to the degree of their impact, that is, how they damage the natural and social environments in which they occur. There is a growing perception that natural disasters have dramatic social repercussions and can become humanitarian catastrophes.
The latter also seems to be more frequent and with a higher degree of risk of occurring and causing greater damage to individuals, families and societies. In addition, humanitarian catastrophes caused by extreme events (meteorological, climatic) have emerged in a more abrupt and violent way, pushing for faster decision-making and actions to help victims and rebuild devastated natural and social environments. In this context, several technologies, in particular the so-called “humanitarian technologies” can make a valuable contribution to this end.
The Anthropocene Knowledge LAB, therefore, operates on three levels. At the theoretical level, look for ways to determine which extreme events (meteorological, climatic) are actually triggered anthropogenically. At the theoretical-practical level, evaluates the risk patterns of occurrence and impact of events of this type. On a practical level, designs and develops humanitarian technologies for use in contexts of emergencies from natural social disasters.
REHUMAN-Rethinking the Human Condition in the Anthropocene Technosphere.
This project is based on two premises. The first is that the Anthropocene is a paradoxical civilizational event. On the one hand, we have become globally aware that the human species has acquired the power to be owner and master of our planet. On the other hand, we also realize that this same power can be used to end Nature, Civilization and Humanity, or, at least, to change its state radically and dramatically. The second is that the realization of this power requires technological mediation and, more than that, the construction of a Technosphere with a planetary dimension. Without the latter, the Anthropocene seems impossible. Anthropocene and Technosphere are, therefore, the two sides of the same phenomenon.
These two general premises bear the concluion that our way of being in the world, the human condition, is in a process of significant transformation. The research being carried out in this project is focused on the critical examination of this ongoing transformation, especially the meaning of being born, growing up, working, interacting with others and die in this all-pervading and ever present artificial medium called Tecnosphere.
CARMENTA: Climate Fiction in the Anthropocene.
This project was named after a figure from ancient mythology. Carmenta was born in Arcadia, Greece, where she was known as Nicostrata, but when she moved to Italy she changed her name. It is said of her that she invented the Latin alphabet and also that she was a sacred midwife, protective of women during childbirth. However, this goddess is mainly known for her gifts of anticipation of the future, in particular the technological innovations to come.
It is a project that aims to be a valuable contribution to the Anthropocene Studies through an inquiry into Literature. Based on the assumption that we have already moved from the Holocene to the Anthropocene, this project focuses on the future of the Anthropocene. It therefore explores the terrain in which literature moves best, that of the imagination.
In particular, it is a project dedicated to the study of an emerging and rapidly expanding literary subgenre of “climate fiction”. Its appearance, at the turn of the millennium, coincided with that of the Anthropocene itself. Unlike traditional science fiction, its narratives are not based on imaginary technologies or planets in distant galaxies, but rather on how geoclimatic events such as the impact of pollution, rising sea levels or global warming affect the human condition and civilization.
The CARMENTA project aims, broadly, to explore literary contemporary texts focused on ecocritical concerns, and to analyze concepts such as Ecofeminism, Ecothriller, Ecopoetics, Wilderness, Nature Writing, Urban Ecology and Eco-pastoralism. More specifically, it seeks: (a) to develop a thematic cartography of climate fiction, that is, to identify the main thematic nuclei of this subgenre; (b) to analyze the spectrum of anthropocentric and post-anthropocentric utopian and dystopian scenarios that inhabit climate fiction works, making us understand, to some extent, what we can expect from our near (and not so near) future; (c) to consider the dimension of ethical learning inherent in these texts, not only in favor of raising awareness about environmental, climatic and ecological problems, but also as a call for activism through Literature.
* The photo in the header is by Edward Burtynsky, Oil Spill #4: Oil Skimming Boat, Near Ground Zero, Gulf of Mexico, June 24, 2010
