The Antibiocene

The Antibiocene is an ambitious interdisciplinary project that asks how one of the most significant biological phenomena of our time – the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – came to be framed almost exclusively as a problem of human and animal health, but not as a planetary shift of the microbial biosphere. Focussing on the third – environmental  – domain of the One Health triad, the project draws on a mix of written and biological source material to decentre and rewrite traditional – eukaryotic – accounts of the antibiotic era as a history of exposure, pollution, and genetic change. The project will specifically assess: (1) what impact mass antibiotic exposure had on microbial ecologies beyond centres of health care and food production; (2) why the ‘Third’ environmental domain of AMR has remained neglected in terms of antibiotic policy frameworks; (3) how thinking of AMR as an Anthropocene of the microbial cell might engender new forms of microbial governance.

You can find three initial concept papers below:

Kirchhelle, Claas. "The Antibiocene–towards an eco-social analysis of humanity’s antimicrobial footprint." Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 10, no. 1 (2023): 1-12.

Kirchhelle, Claas, and Adam P. Roberts. "Embracing the monsters: moving from infection control to microbial management." The Lancet Microbe 3, no. 11 (2022): e806-e807.

Kirchhelle, Claas. "Overwhelming Complexity? Entering a New Era of Microbial Governance." Public Humanities 1 (2025): e146.