CAPAS RESEARCH PROJECT - Gabi Balcarce Philosophies of Extinction in Times of Catastrophes
This project aims to provide a philosophical exploration of the phenomenon of extinction, understanding it from three perspectives: the sixth mass extinction of species, necropolitics (Mbembe), and the radical alteration of knowledge and affect that accompanies this phenomenon. I am interested in considering how discourses about “endings” give rise to, on the one hand, collaborative projects for survival in times of catastrophes and, on the other hand, non-modern perspectives, such as Amerindian cosmologies and Global South feminisms, both of which question basic dichotomies of Western thought (e.g. nature/culture and human/non-human). In doing so, these discourses provide the basic blocks to articulate and advocate for a post-anthropocentric paradigm of co-dependence based on ontological and reciprocal equality between humans and non-humans.