Event Description
In recent years the concept of planetarity has seen a meteoric rise among critical theorists. But they often leave its exact significance opaque or even actively obscure the meaning of ‘planet’. Can space history unearth a more accurate conceptualization by de-metaphorizing planetarity and fostering a spatial understanding of planet Earth instead? In this roundtable, a philosopher, a media theorist, a cultural historian, a historian of technology and a religious studies scholar discuss the uses of planetarity in their respective disciplines. They ask what all that planetarity talk is about, if proclaiming a planetary turn can be justified, and whether understanding the transformation of Earth into a planet over the course of the twentieth century necessitates an extra-terrestrial perspective.
Event Information
Free and open to the public; registration required. For more information, please visit the series webpage or email Alexander Geppert at [email protected].
Hosted by the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies at New York University.