Institutions in the Anthropocene: Strategic Agency and Ethical Orientation

The Anthropocene concept puts particular emphasis on human agency. Humans are seen as a global force so great that they give name to a geological era. By implication, they are ascribed the responsibility to protect earth. This role invites to draft grand institutional designs of global governance. Those grand designs are subject to criticism for epistemological (e.g. foundationalism), ethical (e.g. injustice) and empirical (e.g. path dependency) reasons. This paper takes up this criticism. It agrees that change to a more sustainable development has to start from an analysis of the institutional status quo. However, strategic agency trying to overcome path dependency and create dynamics for change requires knowledge about institutional (in-)stability as well as normative guidance. Based on the works of philosopher Alan Gewirth, epistemologist Nassim Taleb and political scientist Elinor Ostrom, the paper intents to sketch a normative approach that might give some (socio-)ethical orientation to strategic agency.