After a period of remarkable growth in the past fifteen years, postcolonial ecocriticism is firmly established in Anglophone, Hispanophone, Lusophone, and more recently, Francophone Studies. In foundational works by Elizabeth DeLoughrey, Graham Huggan and Helen Tiffin, Arturo Escobar, Rob Nixon, and Malcom Ferdinand, it has largely focused on identifying the interrelationality between colonial systems and ecosystems, the (neo)colonial origins of many environmental problems, and the importance of non-Western epistemologies and cultural representations for responding to environmental challenges. It implicitly argues for the importance of the environmental humanities for finding innovative and effective scientific solutions to the global climate and environmental crises. Yet in addition to recognizing the oversimplification of societies in scientific studies, Malcom Ferdinand has also underscored the humanities’ often oversimplified view of ecosystems. 

Before these developments, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari famously transformed philosophical inquiry by taking the ecological reality of rhizomes as a model for their theoretical reflections in A Thousand Plateaus. Popular ecological books on forests (Suzanne Simard’s Finding the Mother Tree; Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees), fungi (Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life), and plants (Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass) have brought public attention to scientific research that complexifies our understanding of what it means to “‘solve problems,’ ‘communicate,’ ‘make decisions,’ ‘learn,’ and ‘remember’” along with concepts of “identity, autonomy, and independence” (Sheldrake 16, 18). Could the same be said for issues of power, collectivity, identity, hybridity, and sovereignty that affect postcolonial spaces?

This panel aims to complement existing work in postcolonial ecocriticism by learning from scientific and ecocritical frameworks to shed light on complex social and geopolitical issues affecting the Global South. What can ecological concepts like ecological succession, biodiversity, ecotones, habitat conservation, parasitism, mutualism, and keystone species teach us about the current challenges faced by postcolonial societies? Are there theories from the environmental humanities that can provide new directions for decolonial or postcolonial studies? How might we take inspiration from the immense adaptability of ecosystems and the resilience of biodiverse environments to heal damaged societies?

This panel accepts papers taking an ecocritical approach to analyze theories, literature, film, or visual art from postcolonial societies. Questions may be addressed to Amanda Vredenburgh ([email protected]).