The Antibiocene – towards an eco-social analysis of humanity's antimicrobial footprint

This thought piece argues that adequately responding to the anthropogenic transformation of the microbial commons requires reframing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as the pheno- and genotypic signal of a new geological era – an Anti-biocene. Conceptualizing AMR within an Antibiocene necessitates shifting the political gaze from the clinic and sites of food production to the environmental domain of One Health. Disentangling the human and non-human dimensions of the Antibiocene requires working across multiple scientific disciplines. The piece proposes comparative research on particularly contaminated sites to reconstruct the microbial, biochemical, and societal fallouts of chronic antimicrobial exposures and existing societal adaptations, informing debates on preserving our microbial commons and developing new forms of ‘eubiotic governance’.

Claas Kirchhelle