SAMLA 94 ASLE Affiliated Session - The Plantationocene Past, Present, and Future
While the term “Anthropocene” is frequently used to describe the current geological era of human-created and accelerated climate change, multiple other terms have emerged as scholars expand their understanding of the interconnectedness of human endeavors and their consequences. A useful alternative is “Plantationocene,” which emphasizes the economization of life and places the foundations of global climate change within the intertwined plantation systems of the preceding centuries, including how they continue to be reproduced in new, nefarious ways in the present day. This session seeks presentations that take any aspect of the plantation and its enduring legacies as a starting point for interrogating literature.