Climate change in a critical planetary perspective: Dipesh Chakrabarty and the Anthropocene vs. Capitalocene controversy

The essay traces Dipesh Chakrabarty’s reflections on the Anthropocene, the epoch of “anthropogenic” climate change, to discuss them in light of the critique of the Anthropocene developed in ecomarxist circles, particularly by Jason W. Moore, Andreas Malm, and Alf Hornborg. Chakrabarty, a well-known exponent of postcolonial studies and keen critic of globalization processes, points out that the “globe” of “globalization” is not the same “globe” of “global warming,” but rather “the planet” – the Earth-system – with its many forms of life. A complex trajectory of deliberation leads the author to question the “geological agency” of human beings and, ultimately, argue that the climate crisis can be better understood and addressed from a “planetary perspective" (rather than a humanocentric one) capable of placing “life in general” at the center of discussion. In their critiques to the Anthropocene narrative, Moore, Malm, and Hornborg speak instead of a “Capitalocene.” Through comparison with this critical stance, the essay highlights and discusses some of the theoretical premises underpinning Chakrabarty’s thinking so as to advance the hypothesis of a critical planetary perspective. Such a perspective recognizes capitalism as an ecological regime and climate change as a political challenge in which the problem of human domination over the rest of nature is clearly intertwined with the problem of domination and privilege in interhuman relations.