Queer Ecologies: Sex, Nature, Politics, Desire

In a PMLA guest column for March 2010, Timothy Morton writes there would be a “fantastic explosion” should queer theory and ecological criticism meet (273). As this collection shows, the two have indeed been meeting, sparking interdisciplinary discussion in areas including literary studies, environmental science and history, and human geography. As a touchstone for those interested in this emergent field, Queer Ecologies should be met with enthusiasm. Furthermore, it provides all ecocritics with a healthy reminder of the naturalization of heteronormativity as it underscores the complex relationships between sex, gender, and nature. While not an introductory text, the collection explores prevailing interests within queer ecology, including queer animality, political cooptation and engagement, and attachments to nature. Queer Ecologies contains thirteen chapters by contributors from scholars in literary studies, environmental science, human geography, and women’s and gender studies. The editors divide these contributions into three sections. The first, “Against Nature,” celebrates a mainstay of queer ecology with essays that consider the impressive variety, and queerness, of sexuality within nature. Stacy Alaimo launches this section with a thoughtful rearticulation of queer animality: instead of using queer animals to further social agendas, she suggests exploring their sexual diversity in order to destabilize traditional notions of nature and culture. The second section, “Green, Pink, and Public,” considers how varieties of environmental activism can support or erode progressive understanding of queer sexualities: environmental movements can subtly reinforce homophobic cultural norms, as Giovanna Di Chiro points out, or provide opportunities for coalition building, as suggested by Katie Hogan. The final section attends to ideas of queer attachment and desire for nature—the range of pleasures extending beyond the human to include interactions with landscapes and nonhuman life. Indeed, the collection on the whole focuses intently on place, exploring how sexuality orders public environments, how identification with place influences sexual identity, and how landscape ecology applies to studies of queer urbanization. The collection also critiques “metronormativity,” the strong association of queer lifestyles with urban inhabitation and hyper-consumerism. Instead, Queer Ecologies supports “the mobilization of queer perspectives and politics ‘against nature’ toward radical ecological ends” (39).