5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

Feminist scholars have argued that the notion of “Anthropocene” assumes a ‘universal’ experience that effectively obscures the (cis)-gendered, racialized, and exploitative neo-liberal capitalist systems that drive much of the ecological crises and social destabilization. The notion of "Anthropos" itself assumes and privileges a specific human experience (of a white, cis-gender men from the Global North). As such, scholarly critiques of "Anthropocene" have alternatively called it a "Northropocene" or "(M)Anthropocene".

Deconstructing the notion universality in “Anthropos” resides in recognizing that differences matter – not only in how we got here but also where we will go from here. Yet, even as "differences" and "specific locations" matter, they pose challenges to the premise of "universal solidarity" that is central to transnational activism. As such, this session reflects on questions of "universality and difference", of "solidarity and hierarchy" as we imagine a more equitable future in this era. We ask, how do we center “differences” even as we pursue our vision of universal “solidarity”? How do we imagine a world that is accountable to “singular pasts” while being able to imagine and construct a more “shareable future”? More importantly, what can we learn from retrieving voices that have been “decentered” and marginalized? This panel invites papers center feminist perspectives from the Global South. We seek diverse intellectual perspectives (including but not limited to decolonial, anti-colonial, anti-class, anti-race, anti-caste, feminist, and queer perspectives) emerging from and/or centering the “Global South” to (re)imagine representation, collective development, social justice, and equality in this epoch.