Centre for Culture and Ecology Seminar Series - Dr Jairus Grove (University of Hawai'i - Manoa)

'Savage Ecology: War and Geopolitics at the End of the World'

Savage Ecology contends that we live in a world made by war.  The book offers an ecological theory of geopolitics that argues that contemporary global crises are better understood when considered within the larger history of warfare. Savage Ecology argues that political violence is the principal force behind climate change, mass extinction, slavery, genocide, extractive capitalism, and other catastrophes. The book analyzes a variety of subjects—from improvised explosive devices and drones to artificial intelligence and brain science—to outline how geopolitics is the violent pursuit of a way of living that comes at the expense of others. Pointing out that much of the damage being done to the earth and its inhabitants stems from colonialism, Savage Ecology argues that the Anthropocene should instead be called the Eurocene. The key to understanding the planet's trajectory begins by acknowledging both the earth-shaping force of geopolitical violence and the demands apocalypses make for forms of living. Although the talk draws on the book and its central claim generally this talk will focus more specifically on the ways white supremacy structures the technological exit strategies for planetary catastrophe and how the eugenic imaginaries of new nationalisms sabotage the possibility for progressive ecological change. 

The zoom link will be sent out via the mailing list of the Centre for Culture and Ecology (normally on Tuesdays before the event). You can be added to the list by emailing cce.admin@durham.ac.uk.

If you want to join for just this talk, you can email cce.admin@durham.ac.uk or k.d.oloff@durham.ac.uk.