A feminist project of belonging for the Anthropocene

TLDR

The feminist political imagination envisions decentralized, globally connected webs that challenge human/nonhuman binaries and reframe the Anthropocene as a vast, uncontrolled experiment, urging us to become learners and intervene with earth others. The article seeks to conceptualize more‑than‑human regional development and research collectives capable of creating resilient worlds. It proposes a regional research collective model that integrates more‑than‑human perspectives to enact resilient world practices.

Abstract

At the core of J.K. Gibson-Graham's feminist political imaginary is the vision of a decentralized movement that connects globally dispersed subjects and places through webs of signification. We view these subjects and places both as sites of becoming and as opportunities for belonging. But no longer can we see subjects as simply human and places as human-centered. The 'arrival' of the Anthropocene has thrown us onto new terrain. Feminist critiques of hyper-separation are pushing us to move beyond the divisive binaries of human/nonhuman, subject/object, economy/ecology and thinking/acting. The reframing of our living worlds as vast uncontrolled experiments is inspiring us to reposition ourselves as learners, increasingly open to our interconnections with earth others and more willing to intervene in adventurous ways. In this article we begin to think about more-than-human regional development and regional research collectives that have the potential to perform resilient worlds. For us the project of belonging involves both participating in the vast experiment that is the Anthropocene and connecting deeply to specific places and concerns.