The Anthropocene Effect. Controversies, collective identities, and some notes on the Turin-Lyon High-Speed Train

Abstract

The hypothesis of entering the Anthropocene, a geological epoch shaped by human activity, has generated extensive literature on the “new place” of human collectives on Earth. From the metadescriptive perspective of semiotics, this debate suggests that the ecological crises should be reinterpreted as a crisis of forms of belonging. Here, we propose a preliminary analysis protocol for this reinterpretation. To illustrate this approach, we will examine the Turin-Lyon high-speed railroad controversy. We propose segmenting this case based on three analytical dimensions: the collective values driving the project’s supporters and opponents, the mereological recomposition of subjectivities and territories, and the cohabitation of heterogeneous semiotic regimes.