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An Ecotopian Lexicon
Presents thirty novel terms that do not yet exist in English to envision ways of responding to the environmental challenges of our generation
As the scale and gravity of climate change becomes undeniable, a cultural revolution must ultimately match progress in the realms of policy, infrastructure, and technology. Proceeding from the notion that dominant Western cultures lack the terms and concepts to describe or respond to our environmental crisis, An Ecotopian Lexicon is a collaborative volume of short, engaging essays that offer ecologically productive terms—drawn from other languages, science fiction, and subcultures of resistance—to envision and inspire responses and alternatives to fossil-fueled neoliberal capitalism.
Each of the thirty suggested “loanwords” helps us imagine how to adapt and even flourish in the face of the socioecological adversity that characterizes the present moment and the future that awaits. From “Apocalypso” to “Qi,” “ ~*~ “ to “Total Liberation,” thirty authors from a range of disciplines and backgrounds assemble a grounded yet dizzying lexicon, expanding the limited European and North American conceptual lexicon that many activists, educators, scholars, students, and citizens have inherited. Fourteen artists from eleven countries respond to these chapters with original artwork that illustrates the contours of the possible better worlds and worldviews.
Contributors: Sofia Ahlberg, Uppsala U; Randall Amster, Georgetown U; Cherice Bock, Antioch U; Charis Boke, Cornell U; Natasha Bowdoin, Rice U; Kira Bre Clingen, Harvard U; Caledonia Curry (SWOON); Lori Damiano, Pacific Northwest College of Art; Nicolás De Jesús; Jonathan Dyck; John Esposito, Chukyo U; Rebecca Evans, Winston-Salem State U; Allison Ford, U of Oregon; Carolyn Fornoff, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Michelle Kuen Suet Fung; Andrew Hageman, Luther College; Michael Horka, George Washington U; Yellena James; Andrew Alan Johnson, Princeton U; Jennifer Lee Johnson, Purdue U; Melody Jue, U of California, Santa Barbara; Jenny Kendler; Daehyun Kim (Moonassi); Yifei Li, NYU Shanghai; Nikki Lindt; Anthony Lioi, Juilliard School of New York; Maryanto; Janet Tamalik McGrath; Pierre-Héli Monot, Ludwig Maximilian U of Munich; Kari Marie Norgaard, U of Oregon; Karen O’Brien, U of Oslo, Norway; Evelyn O’Malley, U of Exeter; Robert Savino Oventile, Pasadena City College; Chris Pak; David N. Pellow, U of California, Santa Barbara; Andrew Pendakis, Brock U; Kimberly Skye Richards, U of California, Berkeley; Ann Kristin Schorre, U of Oslo, Norway; Malcolm Sen, U of Massachusetts Amherst; Kate Shaw; Sam Solnick, U of Liverpool; Rirkrit Tiravanija, Columbia U; Miriam Tola, Northeastern U; Sheena Wilson, U of Alberta; Daniel Worden, Rochester Institute of Technology.
As the scale and gravity of climate change becomes undeniable, a cultural revolution must ultimately match progress in the realms of policy, infrastructure, and technology. Proceeding from the notion that dominant Western cultures lack the terms and concepts to describe or respond to our environmental crisis, An Ecotopian Lexicon is a collaborative volume of short, engaging essays that offer ecologically productive terms—drawn from other languages, science fiction, and subcultures of resistance—to envision and inspire responses and alternatives to fossil-fueled neoliberal capitalism.
Each of the thirty suggested “loanwords” helps us imagine how to adapt and even flourish in the face of the socioecological adversity that characterizes the present moment and the future that awaits. From “Apocalypso” to “Qi,” “ ~*~ “ to “Total Liberation,” thirty authors from a range of disciplines and backgrounds assemble a grounded yet dizzying lexicon, expanding the limited European and North American conceptual lexicon that many activists, educators, scholars, students, and citizens have inherited. Fourteen artists from eleven countries respond to these chapters with original artwork that illustrates the contours of the possible better worlds and worldviews.
Contributors: Sofia Ahlberg, Uppsala U; Randall Amster, Georgetown U; Cherice Bock, Antioch U; Charis Boke, Cornell U; Natasha Bowdoin, Rice U; Kira Bre Clingen, Harvard U; Caledonia Curry (SWOON); Lori Damiano, Pacific Northwest College of Art; Nicolás De Jesús; Jonathan Dyck; John Esposito, Chukyo U; Rebecca Evans, Winston-Salem State U; Allison Ford, U of Oregon; Carolyn Fornoff, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Michelle Kuen Suet Fung; Andrew Hageman, Luther College; Michael Horka, George Washington U; Yellena James; Andrew Alan Johnson, Princeton U; Jennifer Lee Johnson, Purdue U; Melody Jue, U of California, Santa Barbara; Jenny Kendler; Daehyun Kim (Moonassi); Yifei Li, NYU Shanghai; Nikki Lindt; Anthony Lioi, Juilliard School of New York; Maryanto; Janet Tamalik McGrath; Pierre-Héli Monot, Ludwig Maximilian U of Munich; Kari Marie Norgaard, U of Oregon; Karen O’Brien, U of Oslo, Norway; Evelyn O’Malley, U of Exeter; Robert Savino Oventile, Pasadena City College; Chris Pak; David N. Pellow, U of California, Santa Barbara; Andrew Pendakis, Brock U; Kimberly Skye Richards, U of California, Berkeley; Ann Kristin Schorre, U of Oslo, Norway; Malcolm Sen, U of Massachusetts Amherst; Kate Shaw; Sam Solnick, U of Liverpool; Rirkrit Tiravanija, Columbia U; Miriam Tola, Northeastern U; Sheena Wilson, U of Alberta; Daniel Worden, Rochester Institute of Technology.
336 pages, Hardcover
Published October 22, 2019
17 people are currently reading
1797 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Schneider-Mayerson
6 books16 followersMatthew Schneider-Mayerson is a professor of English and Environmental Studies at Rice University. His research combines literary criticism, communication studies, and sociology to examine the cultural and political dimensions of climate change, with a focus on climate justice. He is the author of Peak Oil: Apocalyptic Environmentalism and Libertarian Political Culture, co-editor of An Ecotopian Lexicon and Empirical Ecocriticism: Environmental Narratives for Social Change, and editor of Eating Chilli Crab in the Anthropocene: Environmental Perspectives on Life in Singapore.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 14, 2020
There's this fun article about the death of god and socialism's response/solution on Vox and it has this one quote about how the "highest meaning" and "highest form" of life is other people. How we shouldn't be looking up but to the side. Horizontal, not verticle.
That really stuck with me while i was reading "ecotopian lexicon" and it's not because the book is about god or even socialism but a lot of it is about horizontal meaning and other people. in that way, it asks to be almost a new kind of bible, and I don't think i'm reaching here, to redefine our morals and what we're fighting for. each word in this book, and they're a diverse bunch, relies on the assumption that we're in this for the fight for other people and, taking one step further, asks us to imagine what this fight might look like. it looks like "blockadia", "apocalypso" or "plant time." it looks like sitting in a garden and sitting still and talking to the dirt and the plants and the clouds. it looks like that moment at dusk when the cows return back to their stalls, turning up dust and dirt in the path and leaving behind a hazy image of sun and darkness and glittering dust that makes you cough.
I'm laughing but every word from "ecotopian lexicon" that i might write here turns up with a red underline from Grammarly telling me this word doesn't exist and offering different possibilities. these words don't exist but they do: people are already living them but we need a new imagination to capture their essence. this book reliance on the need to imagine and work for a better language is one of it's strongest assets and makes every essay feel more involving then it might've been otherwise. the essays feel participatory and call-to-action'y and help you take a step back to really see the world, and people, around you. they feel like the next step of environmental action, grounded in community and ecology and vision. vision might be the wrong word. there are no linear arguments here, separating past, present and future. the future, here, is dependent on the past and the present, too, is an extension of historical process and ecological structure. in this way, some words are more specific than you might guess, grounding themselves in specific plants and snowcaps and cultural practices. "apocalypso" for example, is arguing to meet the apocalype head on, with hope and opportunity, but grounds itself in the dance of "calypso" and the moves and jumps and culture surrounding "calypso". these words don't float out of nowhere into nothingness, they're grounded in what's already here. the dirt we're standing on and the people we know and the class struggle. the new imagination presented in the book feels possible because we already know it. we just need to live it.
That really stuck with me while i was reading "ecotopian lexicon" and it's not because the book is about god or even socialism but a lot of it is about horizontal meaning and other people. in that way, it asks to be almost a new kind of bible, and I don't think i'm reaching here, to redefine our morals and what we're fighting for. each word in this book, and they're a diverse bunch, relies on the assumption that we're in this for the fight for other people and, taking one step further, asks us to imagine what this fight might look like. it looks like "blockadia", "apocalypso" or "plant time." it looks like sitting in a garden and sitting still and talking to the dirt and the plants and the clouds. it looks like that moment at dusk when the cows return back to their stalls, turning up dust and dirt in the path and leaving behind a hazy image of sun and darkness and glittering dust that makes you cough.
I'm laughing but every word from "ecotopian lexicon" that i might write here turns up with a red underline from Grammarly telling me this word doesn't exist and offering different possibilities. these words don't exist but they do: people are already living them but we need a new imagination to capture their essence. this book reliance on the need to imagine and work for a better language is one of it's strongest assets and makes every essay feel more involving then it might've been otherwise. the essays feel participatory and call-to-action'y and help you take a step back to really see the world, and people, around you. they feel like the next step of environmental action, grounded in community and ecology and vision. vision might be the wrong word. there are no linear arguments here, separating past, present and future. the future, here, is dependent on the past and the present, too, is an extension of historical process and ecological structure. in this way, some words are more specific than you might guess, grounding themselves in specific plants and snowcaps and cultural practices. "apocalypso" for example, is arguing to meet the apocalype head on, with hope and opportunity, but grounds itself in the dance of "calypso" and the moves and jumps and culture surrounding "calypso". these words don't float out of nowhere into nothingness, they're grounded in what's already here. the dirt we're standing on and the people we know and the class struggle. the new imagination presented in the book feels possible because we already know it. we just need to live it.
March 18, 2020
A fascinating compendium of loanwords from other languages and speculative science fiction that might help us think differently in an era requiring vast imaginative practice. Standouts: Godhuli, Heyiya, Ildsjel, Pachamama.
July 11, 2022
I love the format of this book, how separate words are connected by common disasters and common struggles, and how language is politicized. Some words from the lexicon have joined my vocabulary, and they find meaning where other words fall short. By learning new words, I learned their stories, our story of ecological demise. Overall, each essay and each word contains valuable insights that we all can learn from.
January 11, 2022
A fantastic collection across languages, genres, and fields. The essays critique and delve into what it means to live in the Anthropocene, and gives a framework, a jumping off point, for futures where humans are more connected to place and each other. Reading this brought me out of the North American capitalistic perspective, which at times seems so inescapable, and reminded me there are other ways of being, dreaming, resisting, and fighting for our planet.
June 5, 2020
a multitude of voices and great references
January 20, 2024
These are beautiful words that, if understood and habitualized, attempt to change the way we talk--and so think--about climate crises/environmental relationships/the Anthropocene. Super cool concept!
That said, I found too much overlap in a lot of these essays--how to choose, practically speaking, between "qi"/"datong"/"heyiya"/"sila"; between "ghurba"/"solastalgia"/"sehnsucht"; or between "ildsjel"/"metahuman"? I was maybe hoping for each word to fill its own niche: it seems to defeat the purpose of hyperspecific language if, now, I have four different phrases for the same experience.
It is unfortunate that these words function most realistically in purely individual thinking: the people willing to incorporate them into their worldviews and/or vocabularies are, most likely, the people who are already thinking in these sorts of terms (if only pre-translated). I would have liked to see a bit more coverage, and a lot more practicality.
Still: this acts as a valuable introduction to environmental humanities: a far-ranging, culturally diverse reference guide to other readings, languages, and approaches to/conversations about the environment. For this, I think it serves its purpose well enough, in that it gets us one (rather meek) foot in the door. I will be thinking of "gyebale," "fotminne," and "godhuli" for a while. (Not sure I can say the same about "~*~" which, frankly, might be the most absolutely egregious way to start this book.)
That said, I found too much overlap in a lot of these essays--how to choose, practically speaking, between "qi"/"datong"/"heyiya"/"sila"; between "ghurba"/"solastalgia"/"sehnsucht"; or between "ildsjel"/"metahuman"? I was maybe hoping for each word to fill its own niche: it seems to defeat the purpose of hyperspecific language if, now, I have four different phrases for the same experience.
It is unfortunate that these words function most realistically in purely individual thinking: the people willing to incorporate them into their worldviews and/or vocabularies are, most likely, the people who are already thinking in these sorts of terms (if only pre-translated). I would have liked to see a bit more coverage, and a lot more practicality.
Still: this acts as a valuable introduction to environmental humanities: a far-ranging, culturally diverse reference guide to other readings, languages, and approaches to/conversations about the environment. For this, I think it serves its purpose well enough, in that it gets us one (rather meek) foot in the door. I will be thinking of "gyebale," "fotminne," and "godhuli" for a while. (Not sure I can say the same about "~*~" which, frankly, might be the most absolutely egregious way to start this book.)
April 17, 2021
A fantastic collection of terms that we can incorporate into our English vocabulary to help us describe and think of solutions to the problems facing humanity as a result of climate change. Reading this has given me the slimmest of hope in humanity's ability to survive the climate crisis.
December 12, 2023
A mixed bag of essays, but ultimately a fun and smart project: loanwords from other languages, contexts, and fields of study (everything from Bengali to sci-fi to Taoism) that can help us navigate the climate crisis, and orient us toward building something better.
There were essays on “Apocalypso” (dancing at the apocalypse, or seeing the potential for change and optimism, even as the world is falling apart), “Fotminne” (“foot memory,” or building a sense of belonging through immersing ourselves in our landscapes), and an amazing Ancient Mayan greeting that translates, literally: “I’m another you,” “You’re another me” – along with all sorts of interesting pieces on untameable wilderness spirits, twilight, and the pitfalls of translating “kindness.” I also particularly enjoyed the opening essay, ~*~, a playful attempt to translate dolphin echolocation to express communicating across distances and through other mediums (“tickling at a distance”).
For me, the standout essay was a beautiful contribution (by Evelyn O'Malley) on "Misneach," an Irish/Gaelic word which is usually translated as “courage” but which means more “staying with the trouble," rather than overcoming it.
Half the book, much of it the second half, was, unfortunately, mediocre. The book could have been more tightly curated. Thankfully, the rest were intriguing and insightful, with some real gems. (Also, by the way, accompanied by some wonderful art (hello Jonathan!))
There were essays on “Apocalypso” (dancing at the apocalypse, or seeing the potential for change and optimism, even as the world is falling apart), “Fotminne” (“foot memory,” or building a sense of belonging through immersing ourselves in our landscapes), and an amazing Ancient Mayan greeting that translates, literally: “I’m another you,” “You’re another me” – along with all sorts of interesting pieces on untameable wilderness spirits, twilight, and the pitfalls of translating “kindness.” I also particularly enjoyed the opening essay, ~*~, a playful attempt to translate dolphin echolocation to express communicating across distances and through other mediums (“tickling at a distance”).
For me, the standout essay was a beautiful contribution (by Evelyn O'Malley) on "Misneach," an Irish/Gaelic word which is usually translated as “courage” but which means more “staying with the trouble," rather than overcoming it.
Half the book, much of it the second half, was, unfortunately, mediocre. The book could have been more tightly curated. Thankfully, the rest were intriguing and insightful, with some real gems. (Also, by the way, accompanied by some wonderful art (hello Jonathan!))
November 27, 2022
A lovely and thought-provoking book, written in very accessible and easy-to-read language. The main premise is: what if we borrowed words from other languages (fictional and actual languages included), and how would that change how we approach environmental issues / the ways we live our lives?
At times, the articles in this book gave me hope in the face of climate grief/anxiety. It helped me imagine a world where different ways of thinking were possible, and how I could think about my life in different ways.
Equally, there were also unfortunately several articles that felt too theoretical, in the sense that I couldn’t figure out how the word would be useful or empowering in practice.
Still, this book helped me appreciate how different communities view the world, how different communities are shaped by their language, and conversely how restricted English can be.
My favourite articles:
- Apocalypso
- Hyperempathy
- In Lak’ech—a la k’in (for me, the most impactful one in the book)
- Nahual
- Pachamama
- Plant time
- Shikata ga nai
At times, the articles in this book gave me hope in the face of climate grief/anxiety. It helped me imagine a world where different ways of thinking were possible, and how I could think about my life in different ways.
Equally, there were also unfortunately several articles that felt too theoretical, in the sense that I couldn’t figure out how the word would be useful or empowering in practice.
Still, this book helped me appreciate how different communities view the world, how different communities are shaped by their language, and conversely how restricted English can be.
My favourite articles:
- Apocalypso
- Hyperempathy
- In Lak’ech—a la k’in (for me, the most impactful one in the book)
- Nahual
- Pachamama
- Plant time
- Shikata ga nai
May 29, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews