Flourishing diversity: being contemporary in the Anthropocene

‘Progress! Develop! Modernize!’ are concepts that destroy our ability to be contemporary. Such directives push those to whom they are uttered to put their efforts into trying to achieve an elusive future state, rather than take stock of the present moment and respond appropriately. Being contemporary to our current predicament, as Bruno Latour (2017) reminds us, is the most challenging issue facing humanity today. We most urgently need to take stock, and ask ourselves what an adequate response to the current global crisis might be.