Manuel Arias-Maldonado argues that utopian thinking continues to shape environmental politics, even as the Anthropocene challenges the possibility of returning to a pristine, Edenic nature. In “Blooming Landscapes? The Paradox of Utopian Thinking in the Anthropocene,” published in Environmental Politics, he critiques both restorationist and eco-modernist utopian visions for creating distance from present ecological realities and questions whether such narratives ultimately hinder meaningful political engagement.

Pol Bargués and co-authors argue that contemporary Anthropocene thought and Frankfurt School critical theory share a fundamental concern with ontological loss and the challenge of articulating hope in a world perceived as having “ended.” The article suggests that bringing these traditions into dialogue reveals how hope can serve as a grounding for critique and imagining alternative futures in the face of irreversible ecological and philosophical rupture.

BBC Culture. “Joseph Beuys: The Original Eco-Activist.” BBC, June 18, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210618-joseph-beuys-the-original-eco-activist. 

This article discusses the anniversary of Joseph Beuys' 7000 Oakes project in Lithuania.

Claudia Eppert explores how forest walks and literary engagement in the Anthropocene cultivate embodied experiences of grief and joy that open possibilities for restorative politics. Addinionally, Eppert emphasizes embodiment as central to ethical and political transformation, while critiquing Western frameworks that struggle to value and sustain forms of immaterial joy disconnected from material accumulation.

Joseph Dodds examines how psychoanalysis can illuminate emotional responses to climate change in the Anthropocene, particularly the tension between despair and the possibility of joy. In “Dancing at the End of the World? Psychoanalysis, Climate Change and Joy,” published in the Journal of Analytical Psychology, he critiques forms of Anthropocene narcissism and explores the humanities’ complicated, often ambivalent relationship to joy amid ecological crisis.

Eco-feminist scholar, Greta Gaard examines how climate change generates powerful emotional responses that shape the stories societies tell about ecological crisis and collective futures. She calls for a shift toward “transspecies happiness,” arguing that moving beyond anthropocentric frameworks can foster shared flourishing among human and more-than-human communities in the Anthropocene.

Gaard outlines how mindfulness and writing exercises used in various courses helped cultivate multispecies empathy, creativity, self-compassion, and a sense of collective, sustainable happiness in the context of the Anthropocene. It frames these contemplative practices as tools that encourage forms of happiness grounded in collective interbeing rather than individual consumption, therefore challenging Western material models of happiness.

Gutauskas uses a hermaneutic lens to examine ecological self-awareness in the Anthropocene, as well as what motivates eco-consciousness within individuals. Additionally, he discusses the experiences that shape how individuals perceive themselves in relation to the environment and other forms of life.

Herbert Marcuse examines how advanced industrial societies shape individual consciousness to conform to existing social and economic structures. In One-Dimensional Man, he argues that consumer culture produces a “happy consciousness” that pacifies critical thought, making individuals complacent with social inequality and limiting their capacity for transformative change.

Ximena J. Nelson and colleagues investigate the evolution and function of joy in non-human animals, emphasizing its measurable behavioral markers such as vocalizations, play, and responses to cognitive tests. In Biological Reviews, they argue that studying positive affect across species can illuminate the adaptive, social, and ecological roles of joy, enhance animal welfare, and provide insight into the evolutionary mechanisms underlying emotions and consciousness.

Joanna Page examines how contemporary art can engage with ecological crises and imagine hopeful futures in the Anthropocene. In Environmental Humanities, she argues that artistic practices foster critical reflection, emotional engagement, and imaginative possibilities that help audiences confront environmental challenges and explore transformative relationships with the planet.

Ricardo Ramos, along with Maria José Rodrigues, Paula Fortunato Vaz, and Isilda Rodrigues, examine how consumerism shapes human happiness in the Anthropocene through the lens of complexity theory. They argue that well-being must be understood as emerging from a dynamic reality of interconnected ecological, social, and psychological factors, rather than from material consumption alone.

Joonas Uotinen, along with Tikli Loivaranta and Arunopol Seal, explore how conceptions of happiness among Central Indian Indigenous communities include nonhuman well-being as an integral component. They aim to show that well-being in these communities is relational and ecological; highlighting how human and nonhuman flourishing are deeply intertwined.