CONTEMPORARY ECOLOGICAL THEORY

There are numerous ways to approach ecological theory in our current Anthropocene moment. One could address ecological literary criticism, or energy studies, or ecological feminism to name only a few possibilities. But this class won’t go down any of those potential paths. Instead, we will focus on a cluster of philosophical and theoretical texts that have grounded contemporary ecological thinking. Our question will consist less in reading about specific problems of contemporary climate change (such as, for instance, the carbon imprint) than focusing on the ecological as a way of thinking and being, mobilizing a whole range of concepts that enable and guide such a thinking. They will include: the rhizome, chaos, nomadology, the concept of the island, archipelagic thinking, the perspectival, relational, oceanic, etc. We will also look very closely into ecological ontologies that emerge in the work of thinkers like Glissant and Ferdinand, which are beholden to an experience of specific geographical locales (the Caribbean) and specific histories (slavery, colonialism, postcolonialism). In the last section of the class we will move – via the work of Brazilian philosophical anthropologist, Eduardo Viveiros de Castro – to the ecological thinking of the Amerindian peoples. Their ecological thinking is, of course, ancient, but the recent transcription of oral teachings make it a very relevant source for all of those who are searching – as we will be doing – for a mode of thinking that moves away from the philosophical traditions of the West, which have significantly contributed to the emergence of the Anthropocene in the first place.