Posthumanism for Sustainability: A Scoping Review

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between posthumanism and sustainability and contribute to the interdisciplinary concept of posthuman sustainability. We conducted a scoping review of 45 peer-reviewed journal articles that met our inclusion criteria and employed co-occurrence analysis based on the clustering techniques of the VOSviewer. We identified five themes within the articles: post-humanism, post-anthropocentrism, post-dualism, post-Enlightenment, and post-technologism. Through our analysis, we found that posthumanism can offer insights into ecological issues and help promote alternative sustainable practices. We also identified three immediate concerns for post/humanities scholars: (1) fostering dialogue between critical humanist and posthumanist scholarship based on onto-epistemological plurality, (2) achieving conceptual clarity in the field, and (3) advocating for meaningful engagement with indigenous worldviews in a multidimensional and multitemporal manner. By exploring the relationship between posthumanism and sustainability, we hope to expand our knowledge of the urgent ecological issues we face and contribute to interdisciplinary efforts to address them.

Ecological dynamics in the third space: a diffractive analysis of academic development

“…Emergency remote teaching (Hodges et al, 2020) was therefore a key part of the university experience for many students and teachers between 2020 and 2021, and online delivery continues to play a role in the emerging 'new normal' of university teaching (Plotnikof and Utoft, 2021). This work, therefore, fits with the concept of developing a minor pedagogy (Mazzei and Smithers, 2020), in which the folding of posthumanism (Dedeoğlu and Zampaki, 2023) and ecological theory (Kinchin, 2023) entangles with the evidence of experience recorded within personal narratives, alongside the formal narratives expressed in university teaching strategy documents (Kinchin, 2022b). These overlaps are highlighted in the definition of posthumanism offered by Dedeoğlu and Zampaki (2023: 51): 'A praxis of and for the posthuman that aims to decenter the human, decipher hegemonic power relations, undo injustices, and affirmatively contribute to sustainable ways of living together in this world, taking inspiration from diverse philosophical, scientific and artistic traditions, as well as Indigenous worldviews.…”