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emergence of the notion of the Anthropocene has given new impetus to research
in the field of environmental history, research which is of crucial importance to
EH. In this book, Róbert Balogh shares his thoughts on dilemmas regarding
environmental history.
Anthropause
It marks a period in which humanity temporarily withdraws from some of its customary
activities. The term, brought into existence by the Covid19-induced lockdown, was
coined by a research team which examined the impacts of human retreat on wildlife
and nature in general. They published their findings in the journal Nature Ecology and
Evolution in June 2020, whose cover featured the sentence Welcome to the Anthropause
(Rutz et al. 2020).
Resilience
The concept of resilience has become almost as fashionable a household word as
the Anthropocene. A resilient ecological system is healthy and self-regulating,
capable of responding to external effects by adapting — within certain limits.
Originally a scientific term of ecology, today it is also used in human and social
studies applied to human communities. It involves the examination of a
community’s reactions and its techniques of adaptation (e.g., in war, economic
crisis or climate crisis). The notion is relevant on the micro level, too, for an
individual may also be hit by private or economic traumas to which he/she must
respond somehow. An individual and a community with greater resilience can
cope with external difficulties better, and this applies to nature in general as well.
Degrowth
The idea of degrowth emerged from environmentalist and anti-capitalist criticism
of consumerism, and is now a political, economic and social movement. The idea
of steady growth is seen by many as the key factor in the environmental and social
problems. The infinite use of the finite resources of planet Earth is seen within
EH thought as a fundamental contradiction and grave problem. Degrowth is
addressed in the article by Dorottya Mendly and Melinda Mihaly and in the paper
by Tamas Kocsis.
Sudden violence, slow violence
Finally, let us look at the concepts of sudden and slow (or quiet) violence. Sudden
violence is applicable to cases in which an environmental problem presents itself
quickly and usually spectacularly. Emmett and Nye illustrated it with the 2016
events around Standing Rock, USA, when the Trump administration had given
permission to lead an oil pipeline through a sacred place venerated by the native
people (Emmett — Nye 2017: 19). This term is valid for forest clearings, forest
fires, capsized oil tankers, etc. Slow violence is at first unnoticed, its effects becoming