Queer futurity and toxic temporalities in the Anthropocene

My research aims to reconcile the gap between the futures queer theory has imagined and the futures of climate crisis. The antisocial thesis debate in queer theory represents a body of work that has grappled with temporality and futurity. Within the antisocial debate, some theorists argue that queerness and futurity are intimately linked, while others argue that queerness demands a refusal of futurity. However, in neglecting to account for the conditions of the Anthropocene, or the geological epoch that recognizes the irreparable impact of humans on the planet, none of these theories address the futures we actually face. In this project, I read concepts from the antisocial debate through the lens of the Anthropocene. In so doing, I theorize queer futurity to account for threats of climate change and pollution. This project serves as an intervention into queer theory via the temporal. In my first chapter, I consider Lee Edelman’s critique of reproductive futurism alongside the work of youth environmental activists. I analyze the hypothetical visions of these activists to argue that they offer articulations of future reproduction that do not uphold racialized heteronormativity. In my second chapter, I read José Esteban Muñoz’s concepts of queer futurity and queer utopia through the lens of Anthropocene oceans. I do so to demonstrate how the conditions of the Anthropocene delimit theories of queer futurity, while I argue that we might still long for future queer utopias. In my third chapter, I return to Alison Kafer’s idea of crip time to theorize the imbrication of queer and crip futurity. I examine Sins Invalid’s performance We Love Like Barnacles: Crip Lives in Climate Chaos as a metaphor for theories of queer-crip futurity and survival in the Anthropocene. Together, my chapters demonstrate how the Anthropocene has reconfigured notions of temporality and futurity. I argue for a commitment to both theorizing and enacting queer futurity despite the bleakness of the Anthropocene.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Grogan, Erin Elise

Contributors dc:contributor

• Somerville, Siobhan
• Beauchamp, Toby
• Barnard, John
• Frost, Samantha
• Littlefield, Melissa

• Queer Theory
• Anthropocene
• Futurity
• Environmental Humanities

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Erin Grogan

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117755

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F117755