The Ethics and Rhetoric of Invasion Ecology

Contributions by Matt Calarco, Kelsey Cummings, Mica Hilson, Angie Pringle, Rebekah Sinclair, Casey Schmitt, Vasile Stanescu, Banu Subramaniam Edited by James Stanescu, Kevin Cummings

Publication date:

26 October 2016

Length of book:

188 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498538305

The Ethics and Rhetoric of Invasion Ecology provides an introduction to the controversial treatment and ongoing violence routinely utilized against non-native species. Drawing from the tradition of critical animal scholars, Stanescu and Cummings have assembled a group of advocates who argue for a different kind of relationship with foreign species. Where contemporary approaches often emphasize the need to eradicate ecological invaders in order to preserve delicate habitats, the essays in this volume aim to reformulate the debate by arguing for an alternative approach that advances the possibility of an ethics of co-habitation.

Introduction: When Species Invade
James K. Stanescu

1.Beyond the Management of Pe(s)ts: Zoomimicry in an Age of Catastrophic Environmental Change
Matthew Calarco

2.Alien Ecology, Or, How to Make Ontological Pluralism
James K. Stanescu

3.Guests, Pests, or Terrorists? Speciesed Ethics and the Colonial Intelligibility of “Invasive” Others
Rebekah Sinclair and Anna Pringle

4.The Judas Pig: How we Kill “Invasive Species” on the Excuse of “Protecting Nature”
Vasile Stanescu

5.Spectacles of Belonging: (Un)documenting Citizenship in a Multispecies World
Banu Subramaniam

6.Welcoming the Stranger: Coercive Reproduction and Invasive Species
Kelsey Cummings and Kevin Cummings

7.Paradise and Warfare: Aldo Leopold and the Rhetorical Origins of Restoration Ecology
Casey Schmitt

8.Rooting for the Unrooted: Invasive Species and Uncanny Ecosystems in Peter Carey’s “Exotic Pleasures”
Mica Hilson

This theoretically nuanced, scientifically informed, and historically and culturally sensitive collection delves into the logics of extermination at a crucial time. As our activities create more and more refugees, both human and nonhuman, the rhetoric of invasion has unprecedented power that calls us to ask critical questions. The essays in this volume, written by philosophers, geographers, environmental humanities scholars and others, provide a necessary intervention that will help us grapple with the complexities of ecological and social harms created by the eradication of individuals and species deemed non-native.