Anthropocene Imaginaries. Visualizing the Anthropocene in Digital Media

Wednesday, 9 July 2025: 13:00-14:45
Location: FSE013 (Faculty of Education Sciences (FSE))
RC57 Visual Sociology (host committee)

Language: English

The proposed session is designed to explore the contribution of visual digital media to Anthropocene imaginaries. By capturing imaginaries in media cultures as an "organized field of social practice" (Appadurai 1996), they become thematic not only as social arenas (Strauss 1978) for personal self-concepts, but also for the negotiation of social coexistence and the constitution of contingent worldviews. In deeply mediatized societies (Hepp/Couldry 2017) social practices are increasingly shaped by diverse forms of visual expression and possibilities of their social dissemination that emerge with digital “mediascapes” (Appadurai 1996).

The session is dedicated to the question of the interplay between digital visual media and public discourses on Anthropocene imaginaries. On the one hand, the session will focus on the significance of images in these discourses: Which familiar visual worlds, imaginative horizons and social conventions of representations are drawn upon? Are new forms of imaginations emerging?To what extent are they polysemous, non argumentative or normatively framed? On the other hand, the context within these images are used is of interest. Which actors or constellations of actors emerge in the use of certain aesthetics and motifs? How are the different actors positioning themselves through images within public discourses? What strategies and interests are pursued with the production and circulation of certain images?

We welcome contributions that empirically focus (1) on discursive fields within the context of the Anthropocene (2) forms of protest against human impact on earth and (3) on phenomena of generating awareness of the Anthropocene.

Session Organizers:
Anne SONNENMOSER, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Germany, Paul DISTLER, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Germany and Thore ZIELKE, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany
Chair:
Michael Rudolf MUELLER, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Germany
Oral Presentations
Beyond the Human: Digital Visual Media in Anthropocene Discourse
Martina TRITTHART, University of Klagenfurt, Austria
Natures of the Anthropocene: An Analysis of a Digital-Participatory Image Cluster
Paul DISTLER, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Germany; Anne SONNENMOSER, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Germany; Thore ZIELKE, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany
Crossing the Border on Tiktok: Documenting Irregular Journeys through Novel Social Media Platforms
Moaz Nasser Saber ABDELRAHMAN, Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy; Andrew FALLONE, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Vina Test: Visualizing Nature in Urban Contexts - a Sociological Approach to Reconnecting Youth with Their Environment
de Maurissens ISABEL, INDIRE, Italy; Hubert MANSION, Université dans la nature (UdN), Canada; Jessica NIEWINT, INDIRE, Italy
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