The anthropocene and necessity of adopting an interdisciplinary approach: The human-nature-society network

This article aims to address some of the important consequences of the Anthropocene for social relations from a sociological perspective. Stressing on the multidimensionality of environmental changes globally, the paper argues that understanding the new conditions requires interdisciplinary studies and a reevaluation of existing approaches to nature and environmental issues in general. It uses the notion of the Anthropocene to criticize the well-established modernist view distinguishing between nature and society and to discuss that sociology must include nature as an active and constructive agent in its explanations and problem-definition processes. Additionally, this article proposes “the human-nature-society web” as an analytical framework to explain social conditions in the Anthropocene at micro and macro levels. This proposed framework is applied to shed new light on the concept of agency in social theory and to criticize the neglect of the notion of nature in shaping the agency. It also serves to underline the constructive power of nature in society in three significant areas of institutional arrangement, risk, and technology.