{"id":11691,"date":"2021-03-25T19:46:19","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T00:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/?p=11691"},"modified":"2021-06-13T22:03:37","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T03:03:37","slug":"the-traumatic-kernel-of-the-unfolding-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2021\/03\/25\/the-traumatic-kernel-of-the-unfolding-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"The traumatic kernel of the unfolding storm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here are a few thoughts coming out of the five weeks of readings in decolonial theory that I\u2019m doing with my Advanced Environmental Humanities<\/a> class (which has been online and open to the interested public). The course is centrally concerned with the present “global moment,” and the following can be considered a short take on how this moment might best be theorized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

A note on the title of this post: Readers of my last book<\/a> will know my preference for the term \u201cAnthroCapitalocene,\u201d or \u201cA\/Cene,\u201d over \u201cAnthropocene\u201d to describe the current global predicament. Here I\u2019m adding the coloniality dimension, which ought to make for an \u201cAnthro-Colo-Capitalocene,\u201d or “A\/C\/Cene.” The \u201cAnthro\u201d part of this compound term is the most questionable, since the evidence of humans being able to live well on this Earth is longstanding. It is arguably the combination of colonial globalism (Colo), unrestrained capitalism (Capitalo), and a kind of epistemological universalism (Anthro) that has led to the current crisis. But how far should we push these opaque acronyms? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reading decolonial theory, and in particular the statements of the Zapatista liberation movement<\/a>, I’ve come to realize that the metaphor of a “storm” resonates widely among those who see tribulation coming to the current order. Whether it’s in the form of revolution<\/a>, some QAnon<\/a>-like rapture, or the megacrisis<\/a> of climate<\/a> chaos<\/a> — in other words, whether it’s based in reasonable predictions<\/a> or fantasy<\/a> — may not matter. If this is a shared perception<\/a>, let’s make use of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, then, are a series of propositions for making sense of the Unfolding Storm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Colonialism<\/a>, for Indigenous and place-based peoples, is centrally about the loss<\/a> of land<\/a> and, with it, the loss of identity<\/a>. It is, in a word, about the forced delinking<\/a> of People from Land<\/a>. In the process, both are violated. I\u2019ve written before on the ontological priority of Land to People<\/a>. For people who have maintained that relationship of priority, the process of delinking can only be experienced as deeply traumatizing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Climate change<\/a> and the Anthropocene predicament<\/a> is a collective trauma<\/a> in the course of its unfolding<\/a>. Some of us are in its pre-traumatic<\/em> phase<\/a> (those who have thus far managed to shield themselves from its impacts). Others are in its becoming-traumatic<\/a><\/em> phase (those who have lost homes or are being forced to relocate, for one reason or another). Still others are in its already-traumatic<\/a> <\/em>phase. The trauma is a foregone conclusion<\/a>; the only question is whether, how, and to what extent one might protect oneself from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) For Indigenous and postcolonial peoples, this trauma may be barely distinguishable<\/a> from, and is certainly continuous with<\/a>, historical traumas connected to colonization and the loss of land and identity. For these people it has been one trauma after another. And for those of them who are managing to recover<\/a> languages, ceremonies, and identities, one could even say that there is a post-<\/em>traumatic dimension (in the positive sense of the word) that\u2019s already here. That suggests that they play a particularly important role in the collective task of dealing with the trauma we are, or will be, all facing in the decades to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this sense, decolonization (and not just the metaphor<\/a>) is not an option. It is a necessity, not just for the sake of healing wounds and righting wrongs, but for the sake of finding guidance from those who’ve been there and done that, and who’ve come out the other end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are a few thoughts coming out of the five weeks of readings in decolonial theory that I\u2019m doing with my Advanced Environmental Humanities class (which has been online and open to the interested public). The course is centrally concerned with the present “global moment,” and the following can be considered a short take on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[660440],"tags":[660317,123667,350301,660325,123507,660320,660321,41464,659236,455114,454990,660318,25193,660319,660323,660322,660324,16894],"class_list":["post-11691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-manifestos-and-auguries","tag-a-cene","tag-anthropocene","tag-anthropocene-theory","tag-becoming-traumatic","tag-capitalocene","tag-climate-trauma","tag-collective-trauma","tag-colonialism","tag-decolonial-turn","tag-decoloniality","tag-decolonization","tag-decolonization-is-not-a-metaphor","tag-eco-trauma","tag-indigenization","tag-post-traumatic","tag-pre-traumatic","tag-the-storm","tag-trauma"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4IC4a-32z","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13246,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2023\/06\/29\/russia-the-climate-crisis-ecocide\/","url_meta":{"origin":11691,"position":0},"title":"Russia, the climate crisis, & ecocide","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"June 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"My recent E-Flux article, \"Russia, Decolonization, and the Capitalism-Democracy Muddle,\" raised the question of Russia's potential \"decolonization\" -- what it means (and doesn't), and how the debate over it, and over decolonization in general, needs some political updating. The article seems no less relevant after the abortive mutiny led last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Climate change"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/climate-politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2023\/06\/image-6.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2023\/06\/image-6.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2023\/06\/image-6.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2023\/06\/image-6.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2023\/06\/image-6.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2023\/06\/image-6.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12020,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2021\/07\/23\/the-garden-and-the-dump\/","url_meta":{"origin":11691,"position":1},"title":"The Garden and the Dump","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"July 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I just sent in my abstract for the Aarhus University conference The Garden and the Dump: Across More-than-Human Entanglements. Other speakers include Tim Morton, Michael Marder, and Chinese science fiction writer Chen Qiufan. The conference, which is open to all, will take place online on September 15 and 16. 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They include talks by philosophers Timothy Morton and Michael Marder and a wonderful conversation between Chen Quifan, Alice Bucknell, and Angela YT Chan.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropocene"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropocene","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/anthropo_scene\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/fcxhX9c2AzQ\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12025,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2021\/08\/11\/through-an-anthroposcenic-glass-darkly\/","url_meta":{"origin":11691,"position":3},"title":"Through an Anthropo(s)cenic Glass, Darkly","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"August 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"My thinking about the Anthropocenic predicament continues to be informed, even haunted, by Andrei Tarkovsky's films Solaris and Stalker, along with their literary predecessor novels by (Lviv-born) Stanis\u0142aw Lem and the Strugatsky brothers, respectively. Two keynote talks I've been invited to give this October -- one for Ukraine's Congress of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropocene"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropocene","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/anthropo_scene\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2021\/08\/leaving-sign-600x450-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2021\/08\/leaving-sign-600x450-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2021\/08\/leaving-sign-600x450-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13029,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2022\/10\/12\/sharpening-our-moral-clarity\/","url_meta":{"origin":11691,"position":4},"title":"Sharpening our moral clarity","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"October 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Indigenous intellectuals like Kim Tallbear see the current Anthropocene crisis (climate change, etc.) as a continuation and intensification of the kind of thing Indigenous peoples and enslaved Africans (among others) have experienced for centuries. Her thoughts for Indigenous People's Day, shared on Tallbear's Substack account, are well worth reading. Describing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropocene"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropocene","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/anthropo_scene\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/10\/BB12_Joao-Gomes-Polido_installation-view.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/10\/BB12_Joao-Gomes-Polido_installation-view.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/10\/BB12_Joao-Gomes-Polido_installation-view.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/10\/BB12_Joao-Gomes-Polido_installation-view.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11838,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2021\/05\/18\/manthropocene-vs-the-pluriverse\/","url_meta":{"origin":11691,"position":5},"title":"(M)anthropocene vs. the pluriverse","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"May 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Those interested in the Anthropo(S)cene thread (technically, a \"category\") of this blog may be interested in the call for proposals for a special issue of Radical History Review on Alternatives to the Anthropocene. (Hat tip to Jeremy Schmidt at The Anthropo.Scene.) The call reads, in part: By \u201calternatives to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropocene"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropocene","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/anthropo_scene\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11691"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11700,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11691\/revisions\/11700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}