Ethics and Rhetoric of Invasion Ecology

James K. Stanescu is professorial lecturer of philosophy at American UniversityKevin Cummings is professor and chair of the Department of Communication Studies at Mercer University

This theoretically nuanced, scientifically informed, and historically and culturally sensitive collection delves into the logics of extermination at a crucial time. As our activities create more and more refugees, both human and nonhuman, the rhetoric of invasion has unprecedented power that calls us to ask critical questions. The essays in this volume, written by philosophers, geographers, environmental humanities scholars and others, provide a necessary intervention that will help us grapple with the complexities of ecological and social harms created by the eradication of individuals and species deemed non-native.

• Introduction: When Species InvadeJames K. Stanescu1.Beyond the Management of Pe(s)ts: Zoomimicry in an Age of Catastrophic Environmental ChangeMatthew Calarco2.Alien Ecology, Or, How to Make Ontological PluralismJames K. Stanescu3.Guests, Pests, or Terrorists? Speciesed Ethics and the Colonial Intelligibility of “Invasive” OthersRebekah Sinclair and Anna Pringle4.The Judas Pig: How we Kill “Invasive Species” on the Excuse of “Protecting Nature”Vasile Stanescu5.Spectacles of Belonging: (Un)documenting Citizenship in a Multispecies WorldBanu Subramaniam6.Welcoming the Stranger: Coercive Reproduction and Invasive SpeciesKelsey Cummings and Kevin Cummings7.Paradise and Warfare: Aldo Leopold and the Rhetorical Origins of Restoration EcologyCasey Schmitt8.Rooting for the Unrooted: Invasive Species and Uncanny Ecosystems in Peter Carey’s “Exotic Pleasures”Mica Hilson