Living Lexicon for the Environmental Humanities

The Environmental Humanities inhabit a difficult space of simultaneous critique and action. Scholarship in this field is grounded in an important tension between, on the one hand, the common critical focus of the humanities in "unsettling" dominant narratives, and, on the other, the dire need for thoughtful and constructive practice in these dark times.

The Living Lexicon is a series of 1,000 word essays that respond to this challenge. Each essay highlights the importance of a particular keyword, demonstrating how it might help the Environmental Humanities to move in interesting directions that take seriously this dual imperative for critique and action. The pieces are both scholarly and creative, and include personal reflections by authors and experimental musings based on their own research. The Lexicon aims for concise, provocative prose, rather than dictionary-style entries. Lexicon entries are peer-reviewed using a standard double-blind process and published in a special section of Environmental Humanities.

A

• Absence: Adam Searle (Volume 12.1, 2020)
• Aion: James Hatley (Volume 6, 2015)
• Albedo: Julianne Yip (Volume 13.2, 2021)
• Ambience: Travis Matteson (Volume 14.3, 2022)
• Arboromorphism: Hannah Cooper-Smithson (Volume 14.1, 2022)
• Attachment: Stephen Muecke (Volume 9.1, 2017)
• Attentional Deviance: Jonathan L. Clark (Volume 12.2, 2020)

B

• Becoming-With: Kate Wright (Volume 5, 2014)
• Belonging: Emily O’Gorman (Volume 5, 2014)
• Bomb Ecologies: Leah Zani (Volume 10.2, 2018)
• Broken: Cameron Muir (Volume 5, 2014)

C

• Care: Thom van Dooren (Volume 5, 2014)
• Climate: Mike Hulme (Volume 6, 2015)
• Connectivity: Timothy Hodgetts (Volume 9.2, 2017)

D

• Disabilities: Sara J. Grossman (Volume 11.1, 2019)
• Dust: Ute Eickelkamp (Volume 16.2, 2024)

E

• Eco-comedy: Geo Takach (Volume 14.2, 2022)
• Edge: Ilaria Vanni, Alexandra Crosby (Volume 15.1, 2023)
• Encounter: Maan Barua (Volume 7, 2015)
• Endangered: Simon Pooley (Volume 7, 2015)

F

• Fathom: Susanne Pratt, Camila Marambio, Killian Quigley, Sarah Hamylton, Leah Gibbs, Adriana Vergés, Michael Adams, Ruth Barcan, and Astrida Neimanis (Volume 12.1, 2020)
• Fecundity: Justine Parkin (Volume 9.2, 2017)
• Fossil: Hugo Reinert (Volume 14.3, 2022)
• Future: Céline Granjou and Juan Salazar (Volume 8.2, 2016)

G

• Growth: Sandra Calkins and Tyler Zoanni (Volume 16.1, 2024)

H

• Hope: Eben Kirksey (Volume 5, 2014)
• Horror: Jonathan Wald (Volume 14.2, 2022)

I

• Infection: Celia Lowe (Volume 5, 2014)
• Installation: Serpil Oppermann (Volume 10.1, 2018)
• Invasion/Invasive: Harriet Ritvo (Volume 9.1, 2017)

J

K

L

• Labour: Jennifer Hamilton (Volume 6, 2015)
• Labyrinth: Prudence Gibson (Volume 14.1, 2022)

M

• Memory: Tom Bristow (Volume 5, 2014)
• Mitigation: Ashley Carse (Volume 14.3, 2022)

N

O

• Offsetting: Paul Govind, Donna Houston, Michelle Lim, Andrew McGregor, Emily O’Gorman, Sandie Suchet-Pearson, and Jonathan Symons (Volume 16.2, 2024)

P

• Plantation: Sophie Chao (Volume 14.2, 2022)
• Protocol: Lisa Jenny Krieg (Volume 15.2, 2023)

Q

R

• Reclamation: Jacob Goessling and Jordan B. Kinder (Volume 15.2, 2023)
• Repair: Alexandra Crosby and Jesse Adams Stein (Volume 12.1, 2020)
• Resilience: Mark Vardy and Mick Smith (Volume 9.1, 2017)
• Roots: Hannah Pitt (Volume 13.2, 2021)
• Rot: Jamie Lorimer (Volume 8.2, 2016)

S

• Sacrifice: Hugo Reinert (Volume 7, 2015)
• Silt: Katie Ritson (Volume 11.2, 2019)
• Skin: Shouhei Tanaka (Volume 16.1, 2024)

T

• Traits: Vinciane Despret and Matthew Chrulew (Volume 12.1, 2020)

U

V

• Vector: Darcie DeAngelo (Volume 13.1, 2021)

W

• Weird: Jonathon Turnbull (Volume 13.1, 2021)
• Wit(h)nessing: Louise Boscacci (Volume 10.1, 2018)

X

Y

Z