The fossil crescent
The fossil crescent
Scientific Director
Paul Magnette
Scientific Committee
Luiza Bialasiewicz, Amy Dahan, Patrice Geoffron, François Gemenne, Stéphanie Monjon, Magali Reghezza-Zitt, Adam Tooze, Shahin Vallée, Charles Weymuller
Editors-in-chief
Ramona Bloj, Pierre Charbonnier
Editorial Manager
Gilles Gressani
Editorial Committee
Elena Maximin, Marin Saillofest
Introduction
Introduction
From the Midlands to Silesia, the Fossil Crescent is characterized by industrial development, environmental upheaval, urban growth, migratory and demographic changes, closely linked social and political movements, and profoundly shaped by the presence of coal. It forms a bioregion that is at once singular and universal. Singular in its genesis and the contrast it provides … Continued
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The Fossil Crescent Origins of the Anthropocene
Twenty years ago, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, Paul Crutzen, introduced the term Anthropocene to describe our modern era. Since the end of the 18th century, he observed, human action on the environment has become so great that “global climate may depart significantly from natural behavior for many millennia to come”. Two decades later, this … Continued
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The Fossil Range of the Anthropocene
Cities and Coal: Can We Move Beyond Fossil Hubris?
In his 1877 novel The Child of the Cavern, Jules Verne imagines an unusual city: “Coal City” is located completely underground in a giant coal vein in Scotland. Artificially lit by lamps which probably use electricity produced by the omnipresent fuel source, the city houses the mine’s workers who build their brick cottages around a … Continued
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The Intellectual Origins of the Anthropocene
New York got a taste of the Anthropocene in the spring of 2023. Canadian forest fires turned the skies a hideous orange. Millions of lungs burned with acrid smoke. The apocalyptic weather was so shocking that it moved some observers to hope that the smoke cloud would produce a tipping point in public attitudes about … Continued
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Climate, The Left, and History
In the essay that opens this edition of the review GREEN, Paul Magnette proposes an exercise in historical reflection: the key to any potential “exit” from the Anthropocene or “fossil capital” could be found in the historic experience of the “Fossil Crescent” — the part of Europe that extends from Northern England, through Wallonia, all … Continued
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Unlocking the Energy of the Modern World
When The Ecological Divide Becomes Impossible to Ignore. Why transition policies will increasingly shape European politi...
A long-avoided divide Until now, Europe has differed from North America in its near total absence of political platforms that emphasize climate skepticism, or at least the rejection of transition policies, as a means of mobilizing voters. In the United States, as we are well aware, a number of Republican leaders, including Donald Trump, have … Continued
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The storytelling of industrial policy in Europe and the United States
There’s a sense that we’re at a turning point in the energy transition: we are now in a position to launch it in earnest and we are collectively trying to make sense of what this means. One of the places that we go to when we are trying to make sense of a situation, a … Continued
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For a European Project for Peace, Democracy, and the Climate
Introduction The most sweltering temperature in 120,000 years. A devastating invasion that has been redefining the European space for the past 18 months as Russia now brings its threats to Poland’s doorstep. From arms to energy, Ukraine and the climate crisis dominate the European Union’s day-to-day and are reshaping the political landscape. Taken together, these … Continued
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A New Model For The Ecological And Social Revolution in Africa
An observation: rural farmers left behind Africa is at a crossroads. Without proactive social policies to improve the population’s well-being, there will be no economic development and no ecological revolution. Failure to take this fork in the road would see us move, whether slow or fast, towards chaos — reaching far beyond Africa’s borders. In … Continued
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After the Fossil Space
A heritage in question
Despite being extremely short on the geological timescale (+/-150 years), the Fossil Crescent’s industrial history — the likely cause of our civilization entering the Anthropocene — left deep and lasting traces on all regions involved. For the first time in human history, the massive mining of riches buried deep beneath the ground gave rise to … Continued
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Recreation – Metaphorical territories
The Fossil Crescent! It is a striking image and mirrors its ancient twin, the Fertile Crescent. If the one refers to a fertile region where the agricultural revolution was born, allowing for the development and manipulation of “living things” to increase our population, the other takes us into the depths of the Earth’s geological stratum … Continued
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Great Landscapes in Progress Euralens Centralité and the Chain of Parks and La Lisière de Saclay
Landscapes are often solely approached from the point of view of protection. Their transformation is therefore sometimes considered suspect. Typically, when landscape architects invoke “land” or “geography”, we think of natural geography when it is above all human geography. Our territory is heavily shaped by human activity, practices and relationships. The distinction between natural and … Continued
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Future History
Charleroi, Belgium, the city in Wallonia where the largest satellite manufacturing plant in Europe is set to open in 2025, lies on the river Sambre and 30 km east of the French border, part of what is known as Pays Noir (“black country”) for its coal reserves, Belgian industrial underbelly, the workers’ land that once … Continued
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Charleroi, Porte Ouest: A Vision of 21st Century Wallonia
Porte Ouest is an exceptional site which is emblematic of both Charleroi’s and Wallonia’s industrial heritage. This site encompasses several scales: the Carsid steel plant grounds, the greater area that includes the urban periphery, and the surrounding territory. Few sites in Wallonia, or even in Europe, can match this scale and industrial history. The Porte … Continued
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Charleroi, from fortified city to sought after city
Charleroi, city of ambitious projects The city of Charleroi, in Belgium, has a very distinctive history. Since its creation, the city has grown through a series of ambitious projects. Designed by Vauban in 1666 as a fortress, it is perched on a rocky spur. Its defenses were expanded in successive stages. Two hundred years later, … Continued
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Forma urbis – Interpretations and Forms
If it can be said that, in general, all cities are different from one another and are distinguishable by characteristics related to their geography and history, then it is true that certain cities are “more different than others”, and Charleroi clearly belongs to this category. Even though it was founded in the second half of … Continued
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