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Dissertation Re-Imagining the Ecological DISSERTATION RE-IMAGINING THE ECOLOGICAL SUBJECT: TOWARD A CRITICAL MATERIALISM OF ENTANGLED ECOLOGIES Submitted by Chelsea Loren Welker DeCarlo Department of Political Science In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Summer 2019 Doctoral Committee: Advisor: Bradley J. Macdonald David W. McIvor Dimitris Stevis Eric Ishiwata Copyright by Chelsea Loren Welker DeCarlo 2019 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT RE-IMAGINING THE ECOLOGICAL SUBJECT: TOWARD A CRITICAL MATERIALISM OF ENTANGLED ECOLOGIES Given the severity of contemporary environmental degradation, especially climate change, a new understanding of the human-nature relationship is necessary for halting this destruction. Political theorists have tried to explain and rethink this relationship by turning to the social, the political, the structural, the historical, the ethical, the individual, the cultural, and the economic realms. At the same time, the production of subjectivity as both an explanation for environmental degradation and a possible domain where cultivating a better human-nature relationship could be found, remains under-examined by political theorists concerned with the environment. The purpose of my project expresses three different but interrelated trajectories of inquiry, each of which represents a dearth in ecopolitical theory generally. First, I interrogate how various radical ecopolitical theories have understood the production of ecological subjectivity and the consequences of these understandings of subjectivity for producing ecological subjects in the context of capitalism, specifically. If who we are and who we think we are matters for how the human-nature relationship plays out, then it becomes vitally important to understand how radical ecopolitical theory conceptualizes the relationship between the causes of environmental degradation, the production of human subjectivity, and the ecological context in which humanity finds itself. In short, I argue that the production of subjectivity has been neglected as one important political component that must be theorized much more robustly for its utility in creating more ecologically minded societies. ii Second, I would argue that one of the most powerful and intransigent forces preventing humans from re-imagining the human-nature relationship is capitalism, which in addition to its material production, also aggressively targets the production of subjectivity. This assertion constitutes both a starting point of this project, yet also something that requires greater attention from political theorists concerned with environmental degradation and the human-nature relationship. Given this assertion, the task of critically examining the relationship between capitalist subjectivities and the creative production of ecological subjectivities remains necessary to any attempt at the cultivation of an ecological politics. To this end, and thirdly, I argue that Félix Guattari’s work engenders the creative impulse necessary for reconceiving of our own subjectivity in the context of the new ontology presented by Deleuze, Guattari himself, and the new materialists. Furthermore, I explore the possibilities for producing eco-subjects through innovative receptive practices attended to by both Guattari and the new materialists in the context of the capitalist overcoding of being. For instance, “becoming receptive” to a rhizomatically (dis)organized world could produce new sensitivities to environmental ecologies through a fundamental acceptance of existential uncertainty. Importantly, Guattari’s work, though deeply committed to ecological goals and the production of ecological subjectivities, has been largely neglected by political theorists seeking a solution to environmental degradation and an ethically and politically bankrupt human-nature relationship. Ultimately, ecopolitical praxis requires a further theorization of the numerous ways that capitalism orders and limits human existence in the context of contemporary life. The triad under examination in my project, namely, subjectivity, ecology, and capitalism, represents a necessary contribution to ecopolitical theory which can re-invigorate Guattari’s work for its utility in re-imagining the ecological subject, combating capitalism, and working towards a real ecopolitics. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My dissertation would not have been possible without the support of my friends and family, especially my parents, Loren and Lisa. As a child (and even as an adult), my Mom consistently told me the following: “You can do anything you put your mind to.” Apparently, the thing I wanted to do most was to go as far as I could in my education, and that advice from my Mom was ever-present in my mind throughout my PhD program and especially during the process of writing my dissertation. Despite lulls in productivity, I never doubted that I could finish my dissertation in the end. Likewise, my Dad has always been supportive, mostly through a combination of humor and unyielding enthusiasm for my successes. He never questioned whether I had taken the right path in life or whether it would be financially sustainable. I would also like to thank my sisters, Monica and Melissa, my grandparents, Bob (Papaw) and Marlene (Mamaw), my friends, Callie, Alyssa, Sonal, Morgann, Nikki, Julia, Desiree, Megan R., Zoe, and many more, all of whom were extremely supportive throughout this process. I would like to mention my Papaw Bob specifically, who passed away two years before I was able to graduate. He was always extremely proud of me as his granddaughter, and I am sorry he was not able to attend my graduation. I will always be grateful for his support, whether it was walking long hours on the golf course to watch me play the sport in high school or supporting me in moving to Colorado to pursue my MA and my PhD in Political Science, he was the best grandpa in history. And finally, I’d like to thank my friend Morgann once again. We started our MA degrees in Political Science at CSU in 2011 and became friends immediately. We earned our MA degrees at the same time, applied to the PhD program together, studied for comprehensive exams together, and shared many of the stresses that come with graduate school. I couldn’t have asked for a iv better “accountabilibuddy” during my time in graduate school. I would also like to thank my body for not rejecting me despite the massive intakes of sugar (and pizza), the lack of exercise, and the high levels of stress that I frequently subjected it to throughout this process. I would like to thank my dogs, Ringo and Eli, for being constant sources of comfort (and occassional sources of exercise). Moreover, I would like to thank my committee members for their support and helpful feedback throughout the dissertation writing process. David McIvor, Dimitris Stevis, and Eric Ishiwata were always willing to offer words of encouragement and advice if I needed it, and they all gave very insightful feedback during (and between) the proposal defense and final defense. And finally, I would like to thank my advisor, Bradley J. Macdonald, who served as my MA and PhD advisor for over eight years. I feel very blessed to have had such a calm, kind, and helpful advisor. Brad taught me to be a better writer, a better thinker, and a better political theorist. I cannot recall a single instance where we disagreed about what needed to be done to improve my work, and I am eternally grateful for all of the hard work that Brad undertook to help me complete this project, especially since I’m not always the best editor of my own work. Again, thank you to everyone who provided support and words of encouragement throughout this process. I am eternally grateful, and I hope to continue the research I have begun here and beyond. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iv Introduction: Cultivating Ecological Subjectivities and Inhabiting the Planet ................................1 Chapter 1: A Genealogy of the Subject in Deep Ecology and Varieties of Ecofeminism .............16 Primary Tenets and Observations ......................................................................................23 Bringing the Subject Back In: Possibilities and Pitfalls for Deep Ecology and Ecocentrism........................................................................................................................64 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................72 Chapter 2: Ecosocialism and Subjectivity: Overcoming the Capitalist Self..................................75 Basic Assumptions and Objectives ....................................................................................80 A Genealogy of Subjectivity in Ecosocialism ...................................................................97 Capitalism’s Impacts on Subjectivity: Alienation, Liberation, and Complex Agency ....115 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................121 Chapter 3: New Materialisms and Material Subjectivity .............................................................127 Ontology and Subjectivity: Matter and the Entangled Human ........................................134
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