ABSTRACT

The Anthropocene emerges as a distinct narrative in Global Environmental Change (GEC) discourse that intertwines theories of geological significance with reflections on humanity and a heightened sense of urgency. As the Anthropocene integrates into governance lexicon, it simultaneously interrupts previously adhered to narratives and the institutional logic which follow. This article analyzes institutionalization of the Anthropocene in UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB). Through a discourse-institutional approach, I find an evolution of GEC discourse over the 50-year history of MAB guidance documents. The Anthropocene integrates into MAB’s GEC discourse as a new philosophy, catalyzed by climate projections, but develops alongside historically dominant narratives of conservation and sustainable development. Significant cross-cutting themes between the three narratives are disentangled to provide an empirical understanding of the Anthropocene with three conclusions to support future research: (1) institutionalization of a narrative is not a clear-cut process; (2) the Anthropocene communicates introspection, urgency, and uncertainty in light of rapid ecological changes; and (3) the Anthropocene transforms MAB’s philosophy but sustainable development continues to steer its guidance, revealing a gap between philosophy and practice as the Anthropocene is institutionalized.

摘要

人类世作为全球环境变化 (GEC) 话语中的一种独特叙述出现，它将地质意义的理论与对人类的反思和高度的紧迫感交织在一起。随着人类世融入治理词典，它同时打断了先前坚持的叙事和随之而来的制度逻辑。本文分析了制度化人类世教科文组织人与生物圈计划（MAB）。通过话语制度方法，我发现了在 MAB 指导文件 50 年历史中 GEC 话语的演变。人类世作为一种新的哲学，融入 MAB 的 GEC 论述中，受气候预测的推动，但与保护和可持续发展的历史主导叙述一起发展。三个叙事之间的重要交叉主题被解开，以提供对人类世的实证理解，并得出三个结论来支持未来的研究：（1）叙事的制度化不是一个明确的过程；(2)鉴于快速的生态变化，人类世传达了内省、紧迫性和不确定性；(3)人类世改变了 MAB 的理念，但改变了可持续发展继续引导其指导，揭示了随着人类世制度化，哲学与实践之间的差距。