Against Ecological Sovereignty: Ethics, Biopolitics, and Saving the Natural World

294 Pages·2011·2.746 MB·English

by  Smith, Mick

AGAINST ECOLOGICAL SOVEREIGNTY
cary wolfe, series editor
16 Against Ecological Sovereignty: Ethics, Biopolitics, and
Saving the Natural World
Mick Smith
15 A nimal Stories: Narrating across Species Lines
Susan McHugh
14 H uman Error: Species- Being and Media Machines
Dominic Pettman
13 Junkware
Thierry Bardini
12 A Foray into the Worlds of Animals and Humans, with
A Theory of Meaning
Jakob von Uexküll
11 I nsect Media: An Archaeology of Animals and Technology
Jussi Parikka
10 Cosmopolitics II
Isabelle Stengers
9 Cosmopolitics I
Isabelle Stengers
8 What Is Posthumanism?
Cary Wolfe
7 Political Affect: Connecting the Social and the Somatic
John Protevi
6 Animal Capital: Rendering Life in Biopolitical Times
Nicole Shukin
5 Dorsality: Thinking Back through Technology and Politics
David Wills
4 Bíos: Biopolitics and Philosophy
Roberto Esposito
3 When Species Meet
Donna J. Haraway
2 The Poetics of DNA
Judith Roof
1 The Parasite
Michel Serres
AGAINST ECOLOGICAL
SOVEREIGNTY
Ethics, Biopolitics, and Saving the
Natural World
MICK SMITH
University of Minnesota Press
Minneapolis
London
An earlier version of chapter 2 appeared as “Worldly (In)difference and Ecological
Ethics: Iris Murdoch and Emmanuel Levinas’ Environmental Ethics,” Environmental
Ethics 29 (2007): 23–41; reprinted with permission of Environmental Ethics. An
earlier version of chapter 3 appeared as “Wild Life: Anarchy, Ecology, and Ethics,”
Environmental Politics 16 (2007): 470–87; reprinted with permission from Taylor and
Francis, http://www.informaworld.com. An earlier version of chapter 4 appeared as
“Citizens, Denizens, and the Res Publica: Environmental Ethics, Structures of
Feeling, and Political Expression,” Environmental Values 14 (2005): 145–62; reprinted
with permission of the White Horse Press; and as “Suspended Animation: Radical
Ecology, Sovereign Powers, and Saving the Natural World,” Journal for the Study
of Radicalism 2, no. 1 (2008): 1–25; reprinted with permission of Michigan State
University Press. Portions of chapters 5 and 6 were previously published as “Ecological
Citizenship and Ethical Responsibility: Arendt, Benjamin, and Political Activism,”
Environments Journal 33 (2005): 51–64; reprinted with permission of Environments
Journal; and as “Environmental Risks and Ethical Responsibilities: Arendt, Beck,
and the Politics of Acting into Nature,” Environmental Ethics 28 (2006): 227–46;
reprinted with permission of Environmental Ethics. An earlier version of chapter 7
appeared as “Against Ecological Sovereignty: Agamben, Politics, and Globalization,”
Environmental Politics 18 (2009): 99–116; reprinted with permission from Taylor and
Francis, http://www.informaworld.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-
copying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401- 2520
http://www.upress.umn.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, Mick.
Against ecological sovereignty : ethics, biopolitics, and saving the natural world /
Mick Smith.
p. cm. — (Posthumanities 16)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8166-7028-4 (hc : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8166-7029-1 (pb : alk. paper)
1. Environmental ethics. 2. Human ecology—Philosophy. 3. Biopolitics—
Philosophy. 4. Sovereignty—Moral and ethical aspects. 5. Culture and
globalization. I. Title.
GE42.S575 2011
179'.1—dc22
2011011173
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper
The University of Minnesota is an equal- opportunity educator and employer.
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my father,
Alan Smith
1931–2009
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
introduction A Grain of Sand xi
1 Awakening 1
2 The Sovereignty of Good 27
3 Primitivism: Anarchy, Politics, and the
State of Nature 65
4 Suspended Animation: Radical Ecology, Sovereign
Powers, and Saving the (Natural) World 101
5 Risks, Responsibilities, and Side Effects: Arendt,
Beck, and the Politics of Acting into Nature 135
6 Articulating Ecological Ethics and Politics 159
7 Against Ecological Sovereignty 193
apologue In Relation to the Lack of
Environmental Policy 219
Notes 225
Bibliography 247
Index 263
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The world is a wonderful place despite the ecological damage we infl ict
on it. Our existence in the world is fi nite, but of all the experiences it
offers, love is that which matters most. My father was, quite simply,
the loveliest man I have ever known, and I miss him deeply. I dedicate
this book to him and also to my mother, Eileen, my partner, Joyce
Davidson, and Emily Rain, our amazing daughter.
Because this book concerns the more- than- human world, it is only
fi tting that it should also be dedicated to Sammy, a cat whose company
over many years mattered more than I could ever say, and to Furdie,
Horace, and Tiki, who all contributed in their own singular ways.
It would be impossible to mention all those whose ideas inspired this
work, not least by their ecological activism. I thank Sue Donaldson,
Victoria Henderson, and Heather Schmitt for reading and comment-
ing on the entire manuscript and Cate Mortimer- Sandilands for invit-
ing me to present an early version of “Suspended Animation: Radical
Ecology, Sovereign Powers, and Saving the Natural World” to the
Nature Matters conference she organized with Meghan Salhus at York
University, Toronto, in 2008. Cate also gave me thoughtful comments
on later parts of this manuscript. I thank the two anonymous readers
for the University of Minnesota Press and Cary Wolfe, Posthumanities
series editor, for extensive and supportive comments. Thanks also to
Douglas Armato and Danielle Kasprzak at the University of Minnesota
Press. As usual, the errors remaining are my own.
ix