IAS & UCL Anthropocene Book Launch: Carbon. A Biography

In this major new history of carbon, Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent and Sacha Loeve show that this omnipresent element is at the root of countless histories and adventures through time, thanks to its extraordinary versality. Carbon has a long and prestigious cv: its work extends far beyond the burning of fossil fuels. The fourth most abundant element in the universe and the second most abundant element in the human body, carbon is the chemical basis of all known life. With scientific precision and literary flair, Bensaude-Vincent and Loeve unravel the surprising ways in which carbon has shaped our world, showing how unrecognisable the earth would be without it. Their remarkable biography of carbon transgresses the boundaries between nature and culture, forcing us to go beyond the simplified image of carbon as the anti-hero of human civilization and enabling us to trace instead the great diversity of carbon’s modes of existence. Uncovering the many hidden lives of carbon allows us to view our own with fresh eyes.

At this launch event, Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent will introduce this new English translation of her book, and discuss its arguments with Suzana Sawyer (Department of Anthropology, University California Davis), Doug Rogers (Department of Anthropology, Yale University), and Andrew Barry (Department of Geography, UCL). 

The event is organised by the IAS in conjunction with UCL Anthropocene and the Environment, Politics and Society research group, UCL Geography.