Deep-time organizations: Learning institutional longevity from history

Abstract

The Anthropocene as a new planetary epoch has brought to the foreground the deep-time interconnections of human agency with the earth system. Yet despite this recognition of strong temporal interdependencies, we still lack understanding of how societal and political organizations can manage interconnections that span several centuries and dozens of generations. This study pioneers the analysis of what we call “deep-time organizations.” We provide detailed comparative historical analyses of some of the oldest existing organizations worldwide from a variety of sectors, from the world’s oldest bank (Sveriges Riksbank) to the world’s oldest university (University of Al Quaraouiyine) and the world’s oldest dynasty (Imperial House of Japan). Based on our analysis, we formulate 12 initial design principles that could lay, if supported by further empirical research along similar lines, the basis for the construction and design of “deep-time organizations” for long-term challenges of earth system governance and planetary stewardship.

Planning for 1000 Years: The Råängen Experiment

“…This challenge, however, does not mean planning should refrain from experiments with the long term in complex situations. Indeed, a deeptime organization like the church might have the financial resources and theological language to do so, but as Hanusch and Biermann (2020) show, there are other kinds of deep-time organizations, such as banks and ecological foundations, that in their practices incorporate long-term concerns in similar ways.…”

“…The inquirer goes on to transform the situation in a way that resolves uncertainty, at least for the moment. (Schön, 1992, p. 125) In this article, we ask how it is possible to engage in conversations with a future situation, whereby 'future' is conceived as the long term and includes, for instance, attention to the needs of future generations or a 'deep-time' focus (e.g., Caney, 2019;Hanusch & Biermann, 2020;Krznaric, 2020;World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). This requires a redirection of Schön's work, which has focused mostly on past situations.…”

“…Contrary to Mische's conception, in planning such sites are not necessarily public; the long-term future can also be discussed behind the scenes. For instance, in 'deep-time organizations' (Hanusch & Biermann, 2020) reflections about the long term do not only occur in public debates, but are also part of the internal culture, practices, and the very organization of their operations. Hanusch and Biermann characterize deep-time organizations by their extreme longevity, both in terms of their long existence (centuries or more) and their engagement with long-term challenges.…”

Youth movements, intergenerational justice, and climate litigation in the deep time context of the Anthropocene

“…The deep time context of the Anthropocene that we can observe in the geological past (Yusoff 2018, Hanusch andBiermann 2020), and anticipate into a long Anthropocene future (Galaz 2019), is now challenging political practices to seriously consider the impacts that current policy choices might likely have on future generations: 'Th[e] linking of past and future generations within current political decisions is one of the key characteristics of the Anthropocene condition' (Biermann and Lövbrand 2019: 10). Rejecting the linear trajectory of current short-term political practices will therefore also entail tackling, in more deliberate and explicit ways, historical responsibilities for causing climate change by incorporating the legacies of the past into Anthropocene futures (Yusoff 2018, Kelz and, while at once also ensuring that present legal and political institutions fully cater for the interests of all future human and non-human beings in inclusive and representative ways.…”

The eternal return: Imagining security futures at the Doomsday Vault

“…The SGSV is a security apparatus built for the Anthropocene age. It is positioned as a refuge for ongoing and future catastrophes and is one of a small number of existing 'deep-time organisations', all part of an emerging trend towards new forms of Earth system governance (Hanusch and Biermann, 2020). It was built in 2008 on the outskirts of the small Norwegian mining town of Longyearbyen, which lies on the Svalbard Archipelago (Figure 1).…”