Listening to Science - How the Earth System Sciences Shape Planetary Thinking in Late Modern Societies: A Sociology of the Planetary

The type of knowledge about climate change that is the most assertive and influential in socio-political processes is produced by the Earth System Sciences (ESS). From data collection to computerized climate modeling, the ESS rely heavily on advanced digital technologies. These technologies shape the publicly available type of climate change knowledge, carrying often implicit assumptions that are being inscribed into them, and structurally predetermining possible ways of knowing.

Despite their orientation towards quantified and linear types of knowledge, the ESS transform ecological understandings by developing ways of thinking in multiple interdependent systems. Its scientific approach to climate change lies in the translation (Callon) of quantified data points and the laws of physics into a planetary frame of reference. Thus, planetary thinking also carries promises for a Sociology in the Anthropocene, aiming to overcome modern dualisms. Given the hegemonic role the ESS play in understanding planetary conditions and socio-ecological relations, the research project “Sociology of the Planetary” critically examines the production of knowledge within this field, highlighting the implicit assumptions that shape its methods through and with technologies.

Presenting preliminary results from ethnographic research at two sites of ESS knowledge production (focusing on in-situ data collection and climate-modeling) the authors will discuss the production of planetary knowledge through three main research goals: First, to reconstruct the implicit assumptions within the ESS in order to develop a sociological understanding of the field. Second, to reflect on these findings in relation to social theory, exploring the potential of the concept of “planetary thinking” as derived from the field in challenging the anthropocentrism in sociological theory and enrich sociological frameworks for understanding planetary dynamics. Third, the project seeks to fathom opportunities for enriching ESS knowledge production through dialogue with sociological knowledge beyond the integration of quantitative modeling of the so-called human system.