Planetary Phase of Civilization
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The Planetary Phase of Civilization is a concept defined by the Global scenario group (GSG), an environmental organization that specializes in scenario analysis and forecasting. The Planetary Phase of Civilization refers to the current historic transition from a world of capitalist states and their consumerist societies to a world of increased global connectivity with new global institutions (like the United Nationsand the World Trade Organization), new information technologies, environmental change in the biosphere, economic globalization, and shifts in culture and consciousness. While it is generally agreed that some form of planetary society is taking shape and binding the world’s people and biosphere into a common fate, the future character of global society is uncertain and contested.
[edit] Background
The notion of the Planetary Phase of Civilization rests on extensive sociological and anthropological study done by the GSG. Convened in 1995 by Paul Raskin, President of the Stockholm Environmental Institute and Tellus Institute, the GSG examines alternative plausible futures by observing trends in societal change in various domains. Their scenarios, published in a series of essays, have been used in numerous regional, local, and global studies including the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)’s Global Environmental Outlook Series (GEO). The Global Scenario Group synthesized its findings for a non-technical audience in their essay entitled Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead. An October 2005 article in the Monthly Review entitled “Organizing Ecological Revolution” described the current “global environmental crisis” and the GSG’s efforts as “the most ambitious attempt thus far to carry out such a broad assessment” of our current and future ecological situation.
[edit] Historical transitions
In a historical perspective, the Planetary Phase of Civilization is viewed as the third significant transition in civilization. Though history is complex and difficult to distinguish, the changes from the Stone Age to Early civilization and then to the Modern Era are typically accepted as macro-shifts in human society and culture. These transitions can be differentiated based on social organization, economy, and communications. The Stone Age consisted of the most basic and simple versions – tribes and villages, hunting and gathering, and language as the only means of communication. The shift into Early Civilization brought more structured city-states and kingdoms, settled agriculture, and writing. Society developed further in the Modern Era into nation-states with industrial systems and printing, which enhanced communication and increased the complexity of society. Unlike these prior transitions, the Planetary Phase marks a new geologic era, the Anthropocene, in which human activity fundamentally alters ecosystems and the climate.
In Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead, the GSG indicates that historical transitions appear to be accelerating as each successive period lasts for a shorter amount of time than the previous one. It speculates that the current Planetary Phase will last for about 100 years, during which there will be a clear progression in science and technology toward a more complex and environmentally interdependent society. The GSG uses this assumption to create scenarios which lead to varying futures ranging from Breakdown to Policy Reform to Eco-Communalism. What type of planetary civilization will form depends in part on the emergence of a global citizens movement as a potential global actor to contest power with transnational corporations and state governments.
[edit] Applications
The concept of the planetary phase of civilization has been generally accepted and widely used in the academic field of environmental science. In "Building a Global Culture of Peace". Steven C. Rockefeller states that "...we have entered a planetary phase in the development of civilization - what the historians call an era of global history." In his article entitled "Paths to Planetary Civilization," Ervin Laszlo describes this planetary civilization as one in which "The consensually created and globally coordinated ecosocial market system begins to function" and "The natural resources required for health and vitality become available to all the peoples and countries of the human community."
This kind of scenario analysis helps analysts think in an organized fashion about future alternatives, key decision points, and possible obstacles to global development. It then becomes possible to determine how to avoid the less-favorable directions and encourage changes to nurture a more beneficial one.
[edit] References
SpringerLink - data resource for GSG environmental researchers
"The World is Changing" by Acharya Ramamurti - an article describing the planetary phase of civilization as one in which the market will shrink in the place of growing civil communlalism
"Building a Global Culture of Peace" by Steven C. Rockefeller
"Vision, Courage, and Sustainability" - An Address by Professor Steven C. Rockefeller
"Governance In The Planetary Age" - by Catherine Burton
Paths to Planetary Civilization - by Ervin Laszlo
[edit] External links
- Great Transition Initiative Alternative global scenarios of the Planetary Phase of Civilization
