  Earth system analysis is the study of the joint dynamics of biogeophysical,
social and technological processes on our planet. To advance our understanding
of possible future development pathways and identify management options for
navigating to safe operating spaces while avoiding undesirable domains,
computer models of the Earth system are developed and applied. These models
hardly represent dynamical properties of technological processes despite their
great planetary-scale influence on the biogeophysical components of the Earth
system and the associated risks for human societies posed, e.g., by climatic
change or novel entities. In this contribution, we reflect on the technosphere
from the perspective of Earth system analysis with a threefold focus on agency,
networks and complex coevolutionary dynamics. First, we argue that Haff's
conception of the technosphere takes an extreme position in implying a strongly
constrained human agency in the Earth system. Assuming that the technosphere
develops according to dynamics largely independently of human intentions,
Haff's perspective appears incompatible with a humanistic view that underlies
the sustainability discourse at large and, more specifically, current
frameworks such as UN sustainable development goals and the safe and just
operating space for humanity. Second, as an alternative to Haff's static
three-stratum picture, we propose complex adaptive networks as a concept for
describing the interplay of social agents and technospheric entities and their
emergent dynamics for Earth system analysis. Third, we argue that following a
coevolutionary approach in conceptualising and modelling technospheric
dynamics, also including the socio-cultural and biophysical spheres of the
Earth system, could resolve the apparent conflict between the discourses on
sustainability and the technosphere.
