Down to Earth: Contextualizing the Anthropocene

•The Anthropocene concept risks being framed in a way that is too ‘global’ and monolithic.•The notion of the Anthropocene needs to be scaled down in order to have societal and policy relevance.•We synthesize multiple strands of research to add to a more nuanced understanding of the Anthropocene.•We provide a more context-dependent, localized and social understanding of the Anthropocene.