Sub-theme 40: Organizing Decolonial and Queer Ecologies: Re-imagining Decolonial and Queer Studies together with the Posthuman Turn
Call for Papers
This sub-theme aims to bring together scholars from the fields of queer and decolonial studies who
wish to explore resonances, synergies, potentialities, challenges and provocations between the two fields, as well as those
who already work across or within both. To this end, questions of humanity, naturalness, dignity and livability, racialized
and gendered bodies, environmental care and the human/non-human binary or hierarchy can create an exciting space in which
to re-imagine and to practice queer and decolonial possibilities.
What is recognized as “natural” or “unnatural”
has been used to discriminate against LGBTQIA+* people, people of Color and Indigenous people for centuries
(Seymour, 2020). The interdisciplinary terrain of “queer ecology” seeks to revisit the topic of nature and apply queer theory
to aspects of the more-than-human world (Gandy, 2012). Chwala (2019) suggests that queer ecologies further offer a decolonial
solution, transforming our understanding of how the material environment and culture inform one another: “Decolonization theory
and queer ecologies notably share an urgency in deconstructing and dismantling human boundaries and obstacles that specifically
exploit a separation of select human beings from their right to be a part of, and interact with, their environments – those
deemed by colonialism to be not-quite-human or nonhuman” (p. 144). By challenging dominant systems of capitalism, cisnormativity,
colonialism, heteronormativity, and white supremacy, this sub-theme seeks to investigate resonances between queer studies,
decolonial studies, new materialist theories and sustainable forms of organizing and activism.
It is no surprise
that the posthuman turn (Braidotti & Hlavajova, 2018) and more-than-human theorizing have been richly inspired by queer
and decolonial scholarship, as illustrated by Karen Barad’s posthumanist performativity (2003) imbued with queer thinking
(Barad, 2011), Patricia MacCormack’s posthumanist ethics (2012) and its queer layers (2016), or Donna Haraway’s cyborg manifesto
(1991), that can be read as evincing a decolonial queer feminism (Cox, 2018). However, these often-early works of the neo-material
turn have not been as impactful in organization studies as they could be, and when they are invoked, their queer and decolonial
groundings are often ignored, as, for instance, in the case of how the work of Barad has been adopted in studies of organization
(Harris & Ashcraft, 2023).
Therefore, this sub-theme calls for re-affirming the queer inspirations of
more-than representational theorizing (Beyes & Steyaert, 2012; 2022) and the posthuman turn in organization studies (de
Vaujany et al, 2024) and, simultaneously, for re-imagining how queer, feminist and decolonial studies of organization can
more intensively connect with recent decolonial queer ecological developments and new materialism (Calás & Smirich, 2023).
Specifically, our sub-theme is interested in exploring and understanding the cares and concerns of organizing
decolonial queer ecologies. Deconstructing the duality implied in the non/human, the term decolonial queer ecology questions
the heteronormative normalization of the relationship between the human and nature, dissolving any higher value in the hierarchy
among human and nonhuman actants (Zembylas, 2018). While nature remains a thorny matter for queers and people of Colour as
‘the natural’ has been weaponized against them (Hall, 2022; Jackson, 2018), decolonial queer ecologists critically inquire
into the assumptions of mainstream environmentalism.
Furthermore, queer ecologists opt for a more radical
view that refers “to a loose, interdisciplinary constellation of practices that aim, in different ways, to disrupt prevailing
heterosexist discursive and institutional articulations of sexuality and nature, and also to reimagine evolutionary processes,
ecological interactions, and environmental politics in light of queer theory” (Sandilands, 2016, p. 169). This relates to
“dirty resilience” (Harcourt & Nelson, 2015), or “the dismantling of structures of violence that target particular racialized
and gendered bodies as disposable... [dirty resilience] is thus also the contextually specific creation of spaces and structures
supporting self-determination and collective liberation, such as: land sovereignty; prison and apartheid regime abolition;
new food systems; community accountability in place of policing and criminalization; non-proliferation and demilitarization;
healthcare accessibility; free housing; collective decision-making; trauma transformation...” (p. 299).
To
engage with the urgent task of re-imagination, this sub-theme opens up possibilities for a broad range of philosophical, conceptual,
empirical, methodological and activist studies that illustrate various queer and decolonial sensitivities to reconsider the
material turn in attending organizational themes. For instance, we hope both for contributions that queer traditional philosophies,
such as Merleau-Ponty’s eco-phenomenology (Küpers, 2020) or imply recent queer philosophies (Hall, 2022). We anticipate empirical
studies that both attend to the losses and difficulties that hit the Global South, Global Majority people, and precarious
communities (Sealy-Huggins, 2018), including LGBTQIA+ people, due to climate catastrophes, violence and increasing polarization
or that document the resilience to engage with queer-ecological experiments and new forms of alliances (Gandy, 2012).
We seek stories about community-creation, such as the emergence of lesbian separatist communities Sandilands (2002) has
described, and the formation of ecoqueer movements (Sbicca, 2012). We invite for papers that propose inventive research practices
infused by and connecting queer methodologies (Ghaziani & Brim, 2019) with more-than-human methodologies (Benozzo et al.,
2024). We look out for queer, trans, and decolonial ecologies based on vital care practices, drawing upon queer, trans, and
decolonial environmentalisms (Cram, 2024).
As a consequence, submissions can focus on the following topics
but are not limited to them:
The reinvigoration of decolonial and queer approaches to organization through exploring the possibilities and constraints of decolonial and queer ecologies
Reimagining scientific perspectives and nature from decolonial and queer perspectives challenging traditional understandings by highlighting how colonial histories shape contemporary perceptions of gender and sexuality
Studies of alternative forms of organizing activism and intervention that entangle decolonial and queer spaces of living with environmental care and non-human actants
Affective and embodied accounts of decolonial and queer ecologies that reflect the ambivalences and agonies of living and working in posthuman times with their socioecological decay and polarization
Studies that connect colonialism, genocide, ecocide, gendered violence and pinkwashing
Decolonial and queer ways of knowing beyond human centric Western perspectives (e.g., indigenous knowledge, two-spirited, wicked).
Intersectional theorizing of decolonial and queer concepts and practices of organizing with more-than-human perspectives, especially those that are imbued with feminist and anti-imperialist sensitivities
Studies linking decolonial, queer, and climate activist agendas
Accounts of decolonial and queer collective liberation (e.g., land sovereignty, prison/policing/military and apartheid regime abolition, new food systems, healthcare accessibility, collective housing/economies/decision-making, trauma transformation, and others)
Activist and art-based work on decolonial and queer ecologies that invites for and inspires practices and interventions for transforming management and organization research and education
To facilitate wide-ranging discussions at the crossroads
of decolonial and queer ecologies and organizing, we invite conventional papers and encourage activist and artistic formats
as well. Please state in your submission your preferred method of presentation should your contribution be accepted for presentation.
Enquiries can be directed to any of the convenors of this sub-theme.
References
- Barad, K. (2003): “Posthumanist performativity: Toward an understanding of how matter comes to matter.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 28(3), 801–31.
- Barad, K. (2011): “Nature’s queer performativity.” Qui Parle, 19 (2), 121–158.
- Benozzo, A., Distinto, M., & Priola, V. (2024): “Matter and Method: The Quest for a New‐Materialist Methodology in Management Studies.” British Journal of Management, 35 (1), 86–98.
- Beyes, T., & Steyaert, C. (2012): “Spacing organization: Non-representational theory and performing organizational space.” Organization, 19 (1), 45–61.
- Braidotti, R., & Hlavajova, M. (2018): Posthuman Glossary. London: Bloomsbury.
- Calás, M., & Smircich, L. (2023): A Research Agenda for Organization Studies, Feminisms and New Materialisms. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
- Chwala, G.L. (2019): “Ruins of Empire: Decolonial Queer Ecologies in Cliff’s No Telephone to Heaven.” eTropic: electronic journal of studies in the Tropics, 18 (1), Special Issue, 141–156.
- Cox, L. (2018): “Decolonial queer feminism in Donna Haraway’s ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’.” Paragraph, 41 (3), 317–332.
- Cram, E. (2024): “Queer and trans ecologies as care practice of indispensability.” Environmental Communication, 18 (1-2), 21–27.
- de Vaujany, F., Gherardi, S., & Silva, P. (eds.) (2024): Organization Studies and Posthumanism. Towards a More-Than-Human World. New York: Routledge.
- Ferdinand, M. (2021): Decolonial Ecology: Thinking from the Caribbean World. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Gandy, M. (2012): “Queer ecology: Nature, sexuality and heterotopic alliances.” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 30 (4), 727–747.
- Hall, K.Q. (2022): Queering Philosophy. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
- Haraway, D.J. (1991): “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century.” In: D.J. Haraway: Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. New York: Routledge, 149–181.
- Harcourt, W., & Nelson, I.L. (eds.) (2015): Practising Feminist Political Ecologies: Moving Beyond the ‘Green Economy’. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Harris, K.L., & Ashcraft, K.L. (2023): “Deferring Difference No More: An (im)modest, relational plea from/through Karen Barad.” Organization Studies, 44 (12), 1987–2008.
- Jackson, M. (2018): “Nature, critique, ontology, and some decolonial options: problematizing ‘the political’.” In: T. Marsden (ed.): SAGE Handbook of Nature. Three Volume Set. London: SAGE Publications Ltd., 235–266.
- Küpers, W. (2020): “Queer(in) moves: Beyond Anthropocene, towards convivial, sustainable futures.” World Futures, 76 (5–7), 287–313.
- MacCormack, P. (2009): “Queer Posthumanism: Cyborgs, Animals, Monsters, Perverts.” In: N. Griffney & M. O’Rourke (eds.): The Ashgate Research Companion to Queer Theory. London: Routledge, Chapter 7.
- MacCormack, P. (2012): Posthuman Ethics. London: Routledge.
- Sandilands, C. (2002): “Lesbian separatist communities and the experience of nature: Toward a queer ecology.” Organization & Environment, 15( 2), 131–163.
- Sandilands, C. (2016): “Queer Ecology.” In: J. Adamson, W.A. Gleason, & D. Pellow (eds.): Keywords for Environmental Studies. New York: New York University Press, 169–171.
- Sbicca, J. (2012): “Eco-queer movement(s): Challenging heteronormative space through (re)imagining nature and food.” European Journal of Ecopsychology, 3, 33–52.
- Sealey-Huggins, L. (2018): “The climate crisis is a racist crisis structural racism, inequality and climate change.” In: A. Johnson, R. Joseph-Salisbury, B. Kamunge, & C. Sharpe (eds.): The Fire Now: Anti-Racist Scholarship in Times of Explicit Racial Violence. London: Zed Books, 99–113.
- Seymour, N. (2020): “Queer ecologies and queer environmentalisms.” In: S.B. Somerville (ed.): The Cambridge Companion to Queer Studies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 108–122.
- Zembylas, M. (2018): “The entanglement of decolonial and posthuman perspectives: Tensions and implications for curriculum and pedagogy in higher education.” Parallax, 24 (3), 254–267.
* LGBTIQA+ is an evolving acronym that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, asexual.