A Disoriented Time: From Presentism to the Anthropocene
The Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts, "Beït al-Hikma", launched the 2025-2026 academic year on Saturday, October 4, 2025, with an inaugural conference of high caliber titled "A Disoriented Time: From Presentism to the Anthropocene", presented by Professor François Hartog, a renowned historian and holder of the chair of ancient and modern historiography at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences.
The Spiral of Instability
The speaker captivated a large audience by inviting them to reflect on the profound mutations of our relationship with time, history, and the future. By evoking the notions of "presentism", a thesis that only the present exists, and "Anthropocene", a term that designates a new geological era in which the impact of human activity on the planet has become the primary geological and environmental force shaping the Earth, Professor Hartog showed how our relationship with time is redefined in an era where humans are leaving a lasting mark on the planet.
He emphasized that the centrality of the present, accentuated by technologies and instant communication, is in tension with the duration and scope of planetary and historical phenomena, causing a genuine temporal disorientation in our contemporary societies. He also questioned the implications of this double temporality for historical thought, urban planning, politics, and social action, insisting on the need to articulate individual and planetary temporalities in a world subject to increasing ecological and social crises.
A Lucid Diagnosis of the Contemporary Era
François Hartog presents a lucid diagnosis of the contemporary era, marked by an unprecedented accumulation of uncertainties. From the Covid-19 pandemic to recent international conflicts, passing through climate deregulation and the rise of political tensions, the world is now living in a spiral of permanent instability, amplified by the media and social networks.
"Before the Covid-19 pandemic, uncertainty was the watchword of the decade. If the pandemic was an indicator of global uncertainty in 2020-2021, new factors have appeared since, namely the war in Ukraine since February 2022, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since October 2023, and the return of Donald Trump to power in January 2025, all against a backdrop of accelerated climate instability."
The Tyranny of Immediate Time
The historian analyzed this crisis through the prism of time, which he considers to be deeply disoriented today. "The future has lost its evidence," he explains, emphasizing that our society is locking itself into a presentism, or rather an invasive and perspective-less present, nourished by instant communication and permanent urgency.
We are facing a rapid accumulation of uncertainty factors, amplified by the media and social networks. A spiral of threats seems to have been triggered, which our societies, caught between urgency and contradictions, are struggling to master. "In the face of this generalized uncertainty, concerns are increasing, as are prophets of doom and other exploiters of anxiety."
The Anthropocene, designated as a new geological era, highlights that humanity has become a geological force. Human actions have been modifying the Earth exponentially since the 1950s. Presentism and Anthropocène confront humanity with an immense past (4.54 billion years) and a already threatening future, with possible mass extinctions, warns the speaker.
"These temporalities exceed our capacity for representation and feed uncertainty and concern. Presentism causes a first temporal disorientation; the Anthropocene adds a second. This accumulation of multiple temporalities is now the historical condition of our societies."
The speaker wonders: "How to live in the Anthropocene? How to articulate planetary temporalities and those of the human world, often discordant and contradictory?" According to him, the coexistence of a presentism that is sometimes chosen, sometimes suffered, the inequalities between North and South, and the management of climate urgency generate strong tensions. In this context, he added, urban planning and architecture must demonstrate flexibility, modularity, and adaptability.
However, this adaptation is hindered by the "tyranny of immediate time", imposed by technologies and artificial intelligence, which valorize instant efficiency to the detriment of reflection and long-term thinking. By inviting prominent figures from research and global thought, Beït al-Hikma continues its mission of openness and scientific dialogue, offering the academic public a privileged moment of reflection and exchange on contemporary issues.
