The anthropic risks, climate change and coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19)

Abstract

Risks have always been present throughout human history, however, today are qualitatively different, as many of them are anthropic (human-made). The fact that people are exposed to dangers for which they have no decision-making capacity depended on knowledge they often do not have in order to decide on possible acceptable risks. The pandemic situation we face now brings light on human-made risks; came and lifted the veil, if there were any doubts, about the impact on the quality of life on the Planet, as consequence of human decisions and behaviour. Two types of human-made risks will be addressed: climate change and the pandemic caused by the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2); reflecting on the exposure of structural vulnerabilities, these risks bring forth the importance of social capital and social networks in reducing vulnerabilities, the investment in science and its dissemination, and prevention, as preparedness for future risks, promoting resilience. Thus, governance relationships between States, economic models and resilient communities will also be addressed.

GREEN MARBLE 2022. Estudos sobre o Antropoceno e Ecocrítica / Studies on the Anthropocene and Ecocriticism

“…Most certainly, these matters require a wide discussion and must be properly related with the broad socio-economic and political issues of our time (Bertolami, 2021). Some of these issues will be discussed in this timely conference, in particular in the talks of Carmen Diego Gonçalves (Gonçalves & Bertolami, 2021), João Ribeiro Mendes and others.…”

Beyond Neoliberal Presentism: An Eco-Temporality for the Anthropocene

“…It appears appropriate to explore this hypothetical ideological alliance as one of the crucial causes of the resilience of neoliberal capitalism. Despite the widespread dissatisfaction with neoliberal ideology's promises, especially after the 2007-2008 financial crisis, its weak response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Heyd, 2021;Gonçalves & Bertolami, 2021;Volpi, 2021) and the decades-old inefficacy in addressing climate change, neoliberalism still appears as the hegemonic force of our political imagination -although in a spectral, "zombified" fashion (Crouch, 2011).…”