Zukünftige Vergangenheiten
Geschichte schreiben im Anthropozän
[Future Pasts. Writing History in the Anthropocene]

The debate surrounding the new geological era of the Anthropocene also impacts the historical sciences. Today, the field is shaped by demands for new methods, new sources, and new narratives. Questions about the significance of nature, the expansion of time, and the role of the human actor affect the humanities at the core of their disciplinary self-conception. To retain a relevant degree of interpretive power under the conditions of imminent climate change, the humanities must also transform themselves.

The author guides us through the international debate surrounding the Anthropocene, discovers correlations and links, and suggests developing new narratives of contamination and relation.

Sandra Maß is Professor of Transnational History of the 19th Century at Ruhr University Bochum. In 2004, she received her PhD at the European University Institute in Florence for her work on colonial masculinity in Germany. She qualified as a professor at Bielefeld University on the history of childhood and capitalism. Her main research interests are the colonial history of Europe, the Anthropocene, and the global history of childhood and family.