he Earth system: genealogy of the global environment as a complex system / From Cybersyn to social macroscopes: contributions of complex systems research to a social reflexivity

The Earth system: genealogy of the global environment as a complex system - Sébastien Dutreuil

In this communication, I will highlight the extent to which the ontological and political discourse of Complex System Sciences has influenced Earth system sciences (and related contemporary scientific and political discourses on the Earth). I will then trace the genealogy of this new object and emphasize the interconnection between the history going from Gaia to the Earth system and that going from cybernetics (first and second) to Santa Fe complexity sciences.Over the past decades, the “Earth system” has been constituted as a new object of knowledge and power. Complementing the idea of the “global environment”, the Earth system has been defined as the ensemble of physical, chemical, biological and human interactions occurring at the Earth’s surface. Concepts, scientific and political discourses, theories and modelling practices have underpinned and resulted from the constitution of this new object. New modelling practices such as the diffusion of Earth system models, and the elaboration of models of intermediate complexity have given shape to the “Earth system”. A series of normative concepts have hinged on the “Earth system”, such as the “Anthropocene”, “planetary boundaries”, or the “2°C target”. In the meantime, the “Earth system” has underpinned new modes of legitimation of technical and political management of the planet, such as geoengineering.