Open Collections· 2017
On the Importance of a Date, or, Decolonizing the Anthropocene
- 835citations
- 2017year
Short summary
This article proposes dating the Anthropocene from the colonization of the Americas, arguing this shift would better incorporate Indigenous knowledges and highlight the ongoing nature of dispossession and environmental transformation.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Proposes dating the Anthropocene from the colonization of the Americas.
- Argues this date better reflects the continuation of dispossession and environmental transformation.
- Incorporates Indigenous knowledges into Anthropocene discussions.
- Highlights the Anthropocene's perpetuation of a logic that severs mind, body, and land relations.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
This article argues for the importance of including Indigenous knowledges into contemporary discussions of the Anthropocene. We argue that a start date coincident with colonization of the Americas would more adequately open up these conversations. In this, we draw upon multiple Indigenous scholars who argue that the Anthropocene is not a new event, but is rather the continuation of practices of dispossession and genocide, coupled with a literal transformation of the environment, that have been at work for the last five hundred years. Further, the Anthropocene continues a logic of the universal which is structured to sever the relations between mind, body, and land. In dating the Anthropocene from the time of colonialization, the historical and ideological links between the events would become obvious, providing a basis for the possibility of decolonization within this framework.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Open Collections, 2017 · DOI ↗
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Field: Geography, Planning and Development
Geography, Planning and DevelopmentSocial Sciences