Frederic Hanusch
Scientific Management of the Panel on Planetary Thinking
*2022-2024 on leave for a fellowship at THE NEW INSTITUTE *
Personal website: www.hanusch.earth
Frederic Hanusch is a fellow at THE NEW INSTITUTE in Hamburg and co-convener of the Earth System Governance Project’s Working Group on Democracy. He is also co-founder and scientific manager of the “Panel on Planetary Thinking” at Giessen University, Germany. His research is focused on the intersections of democracy and planetary change. He recently published a book entitled “The Politics of Deep Time” (Cambridge University Press) to explore how planetary temporalities can be institutionalized in governance systems. Currently, he is working on "The Planetary Condition," which develops the notion of an emerging planetary paradigm. In his previous book “Democracy and Climate Change” (Routledge), he analyzed why more democracy leads to better climate performance. In addition to his academic publications, he co-authored various policy-oriented reports while working for the German Advisory Council on Global Change of the German Government (WBGU), including “Human Progress within Planetary Guard Rails. A Contribution to the SDG Debate”, “Climate Protection as a World Citizen Movement” and “Humanity on the move: Unlocking the transformative power of cities”. Before joining Giessen University, he was a research group leader at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany. He has been awarded several scholarships, including that of the International Council of Canadian Studies for his stay as a visiting scholar at the School of the Environment of the University of Toronto, Canada. He has broadly taught on the above-mentioned topics, including an interdisciplinary MA seminar on the “Foundations of Planetary Thinking”.
Planetary knowledges
This project aims to show that the notion of the planet, the planet as a method, and the respective recognition of the planetary condition allow for a broader perspective that ultimately changes the general understanding of the human condition.
Time design
Time is a central dimension for both humankind and its interactions with the planet. To investigate and direct the influence of temporal elements and their interactions — such as linear and cyclic time arrangements or (de-)synchronization of societal and earthly times — they have to be explored and integrated into a comprehensive model, which can be outlined as “time design”.
More-than-human democracy
The planet has to be taken into account in the way democracy is defined, practiced and evaluated. This project analyzes interlinkages between democratic renewal and the habitability of the Earth. One goal of this research is to investigate the thesis whether the next step change of democratic quality is the inclusion of the non-human.
Democratic serendipity
This project explores the contributions of unexpected encounters for thinking and doing democratic futures. Future democratic societies are not shaped by intentions, goal setting or problem-solving approaches alone; they are also formed by unforeseen change, by stumbling upon novelty and by surprise.
Varieties of hydrogen
Energy carriers, human development and planetary dynamics are closely entangled. Evolving hydrogen infrastructures differ, for example, on whether they rely on so-called green, blue or grey hydrogen, import hydrogen or produce it on-site, strive towards energy system integration or single application. This project aims to understand how hydrogen infrastructures interact with societies and their relation to the planet.
MA Seminar Foundations of Planetary Thinking (asynchronous, interdisciplinary, digital)
Justus Liebig University Gießen
In press
- Hanusch, F., Leggewie, C., Bauer, L.: The Planetary Condition (Elements in Earth System Governance). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (under contract)
- Hanusch, F., Katsman, A. (eds.): Seeds for Democratic Futures. Bielefeld: transcript. (under contract, a German edition will also be published)
- Hanusch, F., Katsman, A.: Introduction, in: Hanusch, F., Katsman, A. (eds.): Seeds for Democratic Futures. Bielefeld: transcript.
- Hanusch, F.: Planetary Democracy, in: Hanusch, F., Katsman, A. (eds.): Seeds for Democratic Futures. Bielefeld: transcript.
- Hanusch, F.: The United Times – A Thought Experiment for Planetary Law, in: Kotzé, L. (ed.): Law and Planet Earth – Exploring New Frontiers in Earth System Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2023
- Hanusch, F.: The Politics of Deep Time (Elements in Earth System Governance). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Leggewie, C., Hanusch, F.: Thought, in: Wallenhorst, N., Wulf, C. (eds.): Handbook of the Anthropocene. Springer: Cham, 485-490.
- Leggewie, C., Hanusch, F.: Agenda, in: Wallenhorst, N., Wulf, C. (eds.): Handbook of the Anthropocene. Springer: Cham, 1577-1581.
2022
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Hanusch F., Meisch, S.: The Temporal Cleavage: Populist Retrotopia vs Climate Emergency, in: Environmental Politics 31:5, 883-903.
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Pauls, C., Oppelt, M., Weber, Nicki K., Huni Kui, N.I., Leggewie, C., Hanusch, F., Bauer, L., Hartl, C., Finkelstein, C., Chakrabarty, D., Mendoza, B., Schreurs, M.: Das Planetarische Politisch(e) Denken [Thinking the Planetary Politics, Thinking the Planetary Politically] , in: Politische Vierteljahresschrift/German Political Science Quarterly.63:4, 703-728.
2021
- Hanusch, F., Leggewie, C., Meyer, E.: Planetar denken. Ein Einstieg. Bielefeld: transcript.
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Asenbaum, H., Hanusch, F.: (De)Futuring Democracy. Labs, Playgrounds, and Ateliers as Democratic Innovations, in:Futures. 134: December 2021, 102836, 1-11.
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Hanusch, F.: Embeddedness as an Integrative Quality Assessment Tool for Student-Centered Extracurricular Studies, in: HINT – Heidelberg Inspirations for Innovative Teaching. 2:2, 93-117.
2021
- Hanusch, F., Leggewie, C., Meyer, E.: Planetar denken. Ein Einstieg. Bielefeld: transcript.
2020
- Hanusch, F.: Demokratie und Klimawandel, in: Demokratie gegen Menschenfeindlichkeit. 5:2, 18-21.
2019
- Hanusch, F., Biermann, F.: Deep-time organizations: Learning institutional longevity from history, in: The Anthropocene Review. 7:1, 19-41.
2018
- Hanusch, F.: Democracy and Climate Change. London/New York: Routledge.
2016
- WBGU (Co-author): Development and justice through transformation: The Four Big ‘I’s, Special Report, Berlin: WBGU.
2016
- Leggewie, C., Hanusch, F., Schmitt, L., Reicher, C.: Einleitung [Introduction], in: Leggewie, C., Reicher, C., Schmitt, L. (eds.): Geschichten einer Region. AgentInnen des Wandels für ein nachhaltiges Ruhrgebiet. Dortmund: Kettler, 8-17.
- WBGU (Co-author): Humanity on the move: Unlocking the transformative power of cities, Flagship Report, Berlin: WBGU.
2015
- Hanusch, F.: The Role of Norms for U.S. Foreign Climate Policy, in: Sommer, Bernd (ed.): Cultural Dynamics of Climate Change and the Environment in Northern America, Leiden/Boston: Brill, 77-105. Peer reviewed.
- Müngersdorff, M., Hanusch, F., Schad, M., Schmitt, L., Schönborn, S., Siepmann, M., Voss, E.: Building Europe‘s (Energy) Future. A Manifesto For a European Community for Energy Transition.
2014
- Hanusch, F.: Zur Feindschaft zwischen Erkenntnisfortschritt und Plagiarismus [On the Enmity between the Advancement of Knowledge and Plagiarism], in: Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft (ZPol) 23:4, 627-638.
- WBGU (Co-author): Climate Protection as a World Citizen Movement, Special Report, Berlin: WBGU.
- WBGU (Co-author): Human Progress within Planetary Guard Rails. A Contribution to the SDG Debate, Policy Paper. Berlin: WBGU.
2012
- Hanusch, F., Müngersdorff, M.: Karl Polanyi: The Great Transformation, in: Leggewie, C., Zifonun, D., Lang, A., Siepmann, M., Hoppen, J. (eds.): Schlüsselwerke der Kulturwissenschaften, Bielefeld: transcript, 274-276.
- Hanusch, F., Müngersdorff, M., Voß, E.: Klimawandel als Chance für mehr Demokratie [Climate Change as a Chance for More Democracy], in: Kirchlicher Herausgeberkreis Jahrbuch Gerechtigkeit (eds.): Jahrbuch Gerechtigkeit V. Menschen, Klima, Zukunft, Glashütten: C & P Verlagsgesellschaft, 130-137.
2010
- Fischer, B., Hanusch, F., Hörisch, J., Löw, F., Raecke, R., Schöneborn, K., Zech, J.: Ökosozial ist sexy - Über die soziale Dimension der Umweltpolitik [Eco-Social is sexy – On the Social Dimensions of Environmental Policy], in: Neue Gesellschaft Frankfurter Hefte 57:5, 44-47.