The Revival of Gaia: Climate Change, COVID-19, and Life in the Anthropocene

Abstract

The Anthropocene challenges the modern idea of human sovereignty over nature; a position that is now troubled even more by the COVID-19 pandemic. Gaia theory is often presented as a fruitful framework for rethinking the human-nature relationship in the age defined by anthropogenic climate change. Contemporary applications of the Gaia concept, however, fail to resonate in the real world. This article therefore distinguishes three revolutionary insights derived from Gaia theory that are useful in acquiring a more down to earth understanding of life in the Anthropocene. Exploring Gaia theory and using the COVID-19 pandemic as an example, it ultimately argues that fictions are pivotal in finding ways to conceptualize the human-nature relationship in the world of the Anthropocene.