Intimations of Apocalypse: Catastrophist and Gradualist Imaginings of the Planetary Future

WiSER, the School of Literature, Language and Media (SLLM) and the Presidential Climate Commission warmly invite you to a lunchtime lecture by Amitav Ghosh.

The world is currently in the grip of several intensifying crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, geopolitical instability, and so on. Given the scale of the disruptions that are already being felt around the planet, it is hardly surprising that many people who have come to be convinced that an apocalypse is inevitable and requires active planning and preparation. This trend cannot be lightly dismissed for it is being spearheaded by the founders of companies like Facebook and Google, that is to say figures who are uniquely well-placed to stay abreast of all the latest information and research. It is well-known now that several billionaire tech entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page and Peter Thiel are preparing for an impending apocalypse by building enormously expensive and heavily fortified retreats on remote islands, or in sparsely-populated stretches of the United States and Canada. Not to be left behind, a bevy of America’s most popular stars, such as Taylor Swift and Tom Cruise have also acquired cutting-edge apocalypse shelters. Nor are the ultra-rich the only Americans who are investing in doomsday retreats: so great is the demand that a new and rapidly-growing industry has emerged to cater to it. This talk seeks to understand the thinking behind these trends, and what it signifies for the future of humanity.

Introduced by Sarah Nuttall (WiSER) and Dan Ojwang (School of Literature, Language and Media Studies)

Brief responses from: Stacy Hardy, Simon van Schalkwyk, Dipika Nath and Sarah Nuttall

Closing remarks by: Isabel Hofmeyr and Ivan Vladislaviç

 For more information please click here.

Add event to calendar