I loved this, and I'm so glad you picked up Koch's Arid Empire and found it resonant! This reminded me a lot of Indigenous philosopher Kyle Powys Whyte's writing on how discourse on the Anthropocene and dystopian/post-apocalyptic narratives of climate change erase Indigenous peoples histories of colonial violence. (He has a great article called "Indigenous science (fiction) for the Anthropocene: Ancestral dystopias and fantasies of climate change crises" and other related writing if you're interested!)
It also reminded me of something Amitav Ghosh said in that Between the Covers interview: "I think in the West, the planetary crisis has come to be thought of very much in relation to the future. It’s thought of as doing something to fix problems that might arise in the future. Whereas in many other parts of the world, especially in the Global South, the planetary crisis is completely seen as being rooted in the past." Been thinking about this a lot.
Whitney, thank you so much! I flew through the book and can tell I will be rereading it. There’s so much in it that overlaps with my interests and I appreciated Koch’s approach. I don’t know how she covered so much in a slim book.
I will definitely check out that article and Whyte’s work in general. Keep the recs coming lol.
Yesss that whole podcast episode was brilliant. Ghosh really skewered the distorted thinking of the US/west, even as he sounded so kind the whole time!
Awaiting Part 2: Arcosanti, that other weird and failed experiment…
On a fictional note, have you read The Water Knife?
Koch writes about Arcosanti too! I really need to visit it, I’ve never been. Have you?
Truth: you’re not missing much. Tact: it is definitely unique. 🥴
I loved this, and I'm so glad you picked up Koch's Arid Empire and found it resonant! This reminded me a lot of Indigenous philosopher Kyle Powys Whyte's writing on how discourse on the Anthropocene and dystopian/post-apocalyptic narratives of climate change erase Indigenous peoples histories of colonial violence. (He has a great article called "Indigenous science (fiction) for the Anthropocene: Ancestral dystopias and fantasies of climate change crises" and other related writing if you're interested!)
It also reminded me of something Amitav Ghosh said in that Between the Covers interview: "I think in the West, the planetary crisis has come to be thought of very much in relation to the future. It’s thought of as doing something to fix problems that might arise in the future. Whereas in many other parts of the world, especially in the Global South, the planetary crisis is completely seen as being rooted in the past." Been thinking about this a lot.
Whitney, thank you so much! I flew through the book and can tell I will be rereading it. There’s so much in it that overlaps with my interests and I appreciated Koch’s approach. I don’t know how she covered so much in a slim book.
I will definitely check out that article and Whyte’s work in general. Keep the recs coming lol.
Yesss that whole podcast episode was brilliant. Ghosh really skewered the distorted thinking of the US/west, even as he sounded so kind the whole time!