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Paper short abstract:

This paper argues that biosocial medical Anthropology can construct a new conception of the social to illuminate emergent socio-natural processes and chart a path through them to meet the theoretical challenges of the Virocene.

Paper long abstract:

Moving beyond the dichotomy of nature-culture, the Anthropocene has emerged as one of the most important scientific concepts of the new millennium. The Covid-19 pandemic is the concrete manifestation of the ontological insecurities of the Anthropocene. The pandemic demonstrates that the nonhumans can turn into influential agents of history who are capable of disrupting the social order. Therefore, the conception of social life has been transformed as it has become deeply entangled within the dynamics of the planet itself. In this transformed theoretical terrain, how should biosocial medical Anthropology respond to the challenges posed by the Virocene? This paper argues that the presuppositions of medical Anthropology about the social need to be revisited. The social has to be understood as the product of a dynamic earth system, self-organizing over deep time. A transdisciplinary approach is required to reconceptualize the social which is able to cope with the planetary challenges posed by the Virocene. We need to see the social forces through a planetary lens to understand the complex interaction between humanity and the inhuman forces of the planet. The paper argues that we need a paradigm shift in medical Anthropology to understand humanity’s altered relation with other species. From a multidisciplinary perspective, the paper contends that medical Anthropologists should allow planetary forces to redefine the very conception of the social. Through this theoretical endeavor, the paper argues, biosocial medical Anthropology can illuminate emergent socio-natural processes, and chart a path through them to meet the theoretical challenges of the Virocene.