Social Darwinism in the Anthropocene: Surviving Climate Change in America City

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 12 Sayı: 1, 228 - 246, 04.07.2025

Ayşe Şensoy

https://doi.org/10.17572/mj2025.1.228-246

Öz

Chris Beckett’s America City (2017) depicts a near-future USA devastated by climate change. Set during a presidential campaign, the novel delves into themes like climate change denial, climate refugee displacement, nationalism, political manipulation, and the impact of media. This article analyses the novel from the perspective of social Darwinism in the Anthropocene, exploring how concepts of survival, adaptation, competition and elimination appear in a world influenced by human-caused climate change. This study emphasises the often-ignored connection between social Darwinism and climate change by examining how communities and nations respond to climate disasters—whether they adapt, resist, or take advantage of the crisis. In this respect, this article aims to explore the degree to which the idea of social Darwinism can be relevant in a world ravaged by anthropogenic climate change and how the concept of fitness for survival can be understood during ecological collapse.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Anthropocene, Social Darwinism, climate change, Chris Beckett, America City

Antroposen Çağında Sosyal Darwinizm: America City Romanında İklim Değişikliğinde Hayatta Kalma

Öz

Chris Beckett’ın America City [Amerika Şehri] (2017) romanı, iklim değişikliğinden harap olmuş yakın gelecekteki bir ABD’yi tasvir etmektedir. Bir başkanlık seçim kampanyası sırasında geçen roman, iklim değişikliğini inkâr etme, iklim mültecilerini yerinden etme, milliyetçilik, siyasî manipülasyon ve medyanın etkisi gibi sorunları ele almaktadır. Bu makale, romanı Antroposen çağında sosyal Darwinizm bakış açısından inceleyerek, hayatta kalma, uyum sağlama, rekabet ve yok olma kavramlarının insan kaynaklı iklim değişikliğinden etkilenen bir dünyada nasıl belirdiğini araştırmaktadır. Bu çalışma, toplumların ve ulusların iklim felaketlerine nasıl tepki verdiklerini inceleyerek, sosyal Darwinizm ile iklim değişikliği arasındaki genellikle göz ardı edilen bağlantıyı krize uyum sağlayıp sağlamadıkları, direnip direnmedikleri veya bundan faydalanıp faydalanmadıkları bakımından vurgulamaktadır. Bu bağlamda, bu makale, sosyal Darwinizm fikrinin, antropojenik iklim değişikliğinin etkilediği bir dünyada ne ölçüde geçerli olabileceğini ve ekolojik çöküş sırasında hayatta kalma kavramının nasıl anlaşılabileceğini araştırmayı amaçlamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Antroposen çağı, Sosyal Darwinizm, iklim değişikliği, Chris Beckett, America City

Kaynakça

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