Extinction and the End of Futures

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4495874
AutoresD Jorgensen (0000-0002-5391-9374, University of Stavanger, autor correspondente)
Ano2022
Volume61
Fascículo2
Páginas209-218
Data de publicação2022-06-01
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoHistory and Theory (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0018-2656 • E-ISSN: 1468-2303
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/hith.12258
OpenAlexW4224996617
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas15
Referências citadas5

Extinction, in biological terms, is the end of an evolutionary line, a potential future cutoff. It involves a transition between the historical past in which a species was biologically alive and a future in which it isn't, a transition from extant to extinct. In this contribution to the "Historical Futures" series, I examine two aspects of extinction histories: transition and anticipation. First, I argue that scholars need to understand extinction as a process with a prolonged and even possibly reversible transition between extant and extinct rather than a definitive end point. Second, I analyze conservation as a practice of anticipatory extinction that tries to create futures for extant species. Extinction, as a nonlinear process, demands that we consider the coterminous past, present, and future. The end of futures for a species requires rethinking how we conceptualize historical (future) endings under times of rapid environmental change

Anticipation (artificial intelligence · Biology · Economics · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Evolutionary biology · Extant taxon · Extinction (optical mineralogy · Extinction event · Financial economics · Futures contract · Geography · Sociology · American Environmental and Regional History · Computer Science · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics · Demography · History · Paleontology · Philosophy