Axis 5 : Quantification in the Anthropocene

Axis 5 : Quantification in Anthropocene

Lead researcher : Gulliver Lux

Keywords : Quantification; Performance; Ecological justice; Planetary boundaries; Post-growth; Ecosystem services.

This research axis considers quantification not only as a set of socio-technical tools acting performatively by structuring our practices and decisions, but also as a framework of knowledge that shapes and constrains how we perceive, measure, and value infrastructures. It analyzes how standardized indicators (carbon footprint, ESG scores, etc.) create anthropocentric representations and explores alternatives for infrastructures through a post-growth lens. 

The main objectives are :

1. Identify quantification tools and their theoretical frameworks (planetary boundaries theory, ecological economics). 

2. Critically assess the performativity of these metrics and their legitimizing, exclusionary, and economic/social capturing effects. 

3. Explore reflexive and co-constructed approaches (environmental justice, Indigenous knowledge, post-growth) to renew performance indicators from a post-growth perspective. 
   Develop and test metrics based on the value of ecosystem services to shift the quantification of infrastructure. 

More precisely, this axis aims to explore the following questions:

• How do standardized infrastructure-related indicators contribute to legitimizing or reproducing a “sustainable” form of capitalism rather than enabling systemic transformation? 

• How can we co-construct more robust and legitimate infrastructure indicators with communities and Indigenous peoples in the face of ecosystemic challenges? 

• What normative consequences arise from “governance by numbers,” and how can we rethink infrastructure governance in the context of the Anthropocene? 

• How can we shift the focus from infrastructure efficiency toward equitable resilience and well-being? 

• How can we design “post-growth metrics” that account for socio-ecological complexity? 

Project team