Skip to main content
Browse by:
GROUP

Decolonial Ecologies to Move Beyond Exclusive Environmentalisms

Malcom Ferdinand
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Malcom Ferdinand
Wednesdays at the Center

French colonial outre-mer territories account for a very small proportion of France's greenhouse gas emissions. However, they "suffer the most the consequences of climate change with higher sea level rises, coral bleaching, more intense hurricanes, putting more stress on economically vulnerable islands."

A double mechanism of colonial toxicities in the French Caribbean is the result of the Plantationocene with a special focus on the pesticide contamination in the French Antilles induced by the banana industry (Chlordecone poisoning), and the coloniality of its relationship with mainland France, including increased dependence on imported food from Europe. Investigating both the causes and consequences of this long-lasting and harmful contamination of Martinique and Guadeloupe, Malcom Ferdinand will discuss ongoing political actions and art practices that attempt to open up avenues for a post-toxic and post-colonial world.

Malcom Ferdinand is an environmental engineer from University College London and doctor in political philosophy from Université Paris Diderot. He is now a researcher at the CNRS (IRISSO/University Paris Dauphine).

The Wednesdays at the Center series, the John Hope Franklin Center, and the international area study centers in DUCIGS have worked in the past to address issues of racism, inequality, and marginalization both globally and locally.

If you require closed captioning for this event, please contact Meredith Watkins (mw390@duke.edu).