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Underflows: Queer Trans Ecologies and River Justice
Rivers host vibrant multispecies communities in their waters and along their banks, and, according to queer-trans-feminist river scientist Cleo Wolfle Hazard, their future vitality requires centering the values of justice, sovereignty, and dynamism. At the intersection of river sciences, queer and trans theory, and environmental justice, Underflows explores river cultures and politics at five sites of water conflict and restoration in California, Oregon, and Washington.
Incorporating work with salmon, beaver, and floodplain recovery projects, Wolfle Hazard weaves narratives about innovative field research practices with an affectively oriented queer and trans focus on love and grief for rivers and fish. Drawing on the idea of underflows--the parts of a river's flow that can't be seen, the underground currents that seep through soil or rise from aquifers through cracks in bedrock--Wolfle Hazard elucidates the underflows in river cultures, sciences, and politics where Native nations and marginalized communities fight to protect rivers. The result is a deeply moving account of why rivers matter for queer and trans life, offering critical insights that point to innovative ways of doing science that disrupt settler colonialism and new visions for justice in river governance.
Incorporating work with salmon, beaver, and floodplain recovery projects, Wolfle Hazard weaves narratives about innovative field research practices with an affectively oriented queer and trans focus on love and grief for rivers and fish. Drawing on the idea of underflows--the parts of a river's flow that can't be seen, the underground currents that seep through soil or rise from aquifers through cracks in bedrock--Wolfle Hazard elucidates the underflows in river cultures, sciences, and politics where Native nations and marginalized communities fight to protect rivers. The result is a deeply moving account of why rivers matter for queer and trans life, offering critical insights that point to innovative ways of doing science that disrupt settler colonialism and new visions for justice in river governance.
312 pages, Paperback
Published April 5, 2022
17 people are currently reading
327 people want to read
About the author
Cleo Wölfle Hazard
1 book2 followerspronouns: he /him, ze / hir, they / them
Dr. Wölfle Hazard’s research informs two areas of thought: (1) ecological and social dimensions of human relations to rivers and their multi-species inhabitants, and (2) how queer trans feminist thought can transfigure ecological science as it’s used by Indigenous and non-Native practitioners in river management. An activist and artist with formal training in ecology, geomorphology, critical social science, and feminist science and technology studies, he conducts collaborative research in partnership with Native nations, agencies, citizen scientists, and local community members. Wölfle Hazard and his students are currently working on the Duwamish River in Washington and the Klamath River in California, as well as in the freshwater-saltwater interface around Puget Sound. Their PhD work in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley convened a collaborative of scientists and Sonoma County residents to experiment with storing and infiltrating winter rain to increase summer streamflow to benefit juvenile salmon, and exploring the possibilities of collaborating with beavers to create cool refuges for coho. As a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in Feminist Studies at UC Santa Cruz, ze drew this field experience together with queer, transgender, and Indigenous theory to theorize how river sciences could work against the Manifest Destiny logics that shape settler environmental governance in the Western US. His monograph Underflow: Queer Trans Ecologies and River Justice explores how a queer-trans-feminist approach can ally with Indigenous praxis to renew human-water-fish relations. Underflows will be published in January 2022 by University of Washington Press, in the Feminism & Technoscience series.
Dr. Wölfle Hazard’s research informs two areas of thought: (1) ecological and social dimensions of human relations to rivers and their multi-species inhabitants, and (2) how queer trans feminist thought can transfigure ecological science as it’s used by Indigenous and non-Native practitioners in river management. An activist and artist with formal training in ecology, geomorphology, critical social science, and feminist science and technology studies, he conducts collaborative research in partnership with Native nations, agencies, citizen scientists, and local community members. Wölfle Hazard and his students are currently working on the Duwamish River in Washington and the Klamath River in California, as well as in the freshwater-saltwater interface around Puget Sound. Their PhD work in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley convened a collaborative of scientists and Sonoma County residents to experiment with storing and infiltrating winter rain to increase summer streamflow to benefit juvenile salmon, and exploring the possibilities of collaborating with beavers to create cool refuges for coho. As a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in Feminist Studies at UC Santa Cruz, ze drew this field experience together with queer, transgender, and Indigenous theory to theorize how river sciences could work against the Manifest Destiny logics that shape settler environmental governance in the Western US. His monograph Underflow: Queer Trans Ecologies and River Justice explores how a queer-trans-feminist approach can ally with Indigenous praxis to renew human-water-fish relations. Underflows will be published in January 2022 by University of Washington Press, in the Feminism & Technoscience series.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 1, 2022
*between a 4-4.5 probably but rounding up* Loved this book. Fascinating concepts and interconnections necessary for anyone going into fields of science (but also just anyone). The type of book you feel glad to have come across and read. Be prepared to think and apply the imaginaries you read in your life!
March 13, 2024
I loooved chapter 2
May 31, 2023
I think a lot of this book was above my level and I will be returning to it, likely multiple times. It spoke to me in ways I don’t currently have words for. I look forward to returning to it.
January 30, 2024
Second read through and, of course, was better than the first. Gave more time and space for exploring the beautiful citational politics of Cleo's work. This book is truly at nexus of queer trans thought and ecology. Cannot recommend enough to anyone in either discipline along with physical geographers, practitioners of land management, science and technology scholars, on and on!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews