2011/01/01 by Gaard · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · Environmental Science · #Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature #Geographies of human-animal interactions #Environmental Philosophy and Ethics
paper · doi:10.2979/ethicsenviro.16.2.115
openalex publication_date 2011/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/27
Drawing on a range of queer and ecological theories rather a single orthodox perspective, the thirteen essays in Queer Ecologies develop a strong argument for queering environmentalisms and greening queer theory, in three steps: challenging the heteronormativity of investigations into the 'sexuality' of nature, exploring the intersections between queer and ecological inflections of bio/politics (including spatial politics), and ultimately queering environmental affect, ethics, and desire. Clearly, notions of sexuality have shaped social constructions of nature, as seen in the familiar concepts and creation of wilderness, national and urban parks, and car camping. As the first book-length volume to establish the intersections of queer theory and environmentalisms at such depth, Queer Ecologies covers a broad range of topics—gay cruising in the parks, lesbian rural retreats, transgressive sexual behaviors among diverse species, literary and cultural narratives of queer/nature. It also establishes topics for future development, i.e., exploring the intersection of speciesism and heterosexism in queer ecologies, and developing a focus on the constitution of the non-white queer subject.