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Speculations on the postnatural: Restoration, accumulation, and sacrifice at the Salton Sea

Cantor, A.; Knuth, S.

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Authors

A. Cantor



Abstract

Using a regional political ecology lens, this paper explores emerging geographies and politics of a “postnatural” ecomodernist turn in mainstream environmentalism. We examine the unfolding case of ecological restoration and renewable energy development at Southern California’s Salton Sea. Ambitious proposals to restore the massive, increasingly degraded lake (and finance restoration) by reengineering it as a hub for geothermal energy generation and high-tech green industry hinge upon the ambiguity and malleability of restoration in an environment long classified as postnatural. These plans coincide with a broader rush on renewable energy sites in the California desert, and mounting conflicts over water and land with legacy agro-industrial interests. The case illustrates significant problems within postnatural environmentalism. First, it demonstrates how theorizations of the postnatural can intersect with green capitalist projects of re(e)valuation and development, as the Sea’s managers manipulate environmental framings to support accumulation-minded projects, and accumulation imperatives swamp other functionalities of restoration. Meanwhile, despite the flourishing of postnatural discourses, the “pristine” is shown to do continued work as the Sea becomes a sacrifice zone for development deflected from better-protected spaces. This postnatural positioning has rendered the Salton Sea vulnerable to neoliberal austerity and speculation in ways that compromise its future existence.

Citation

Cantor, A., & Knuth, S. (2019). Speculations on the postnatural: Restoration, accumulation, and sacrifice at the Salton Sea. Environment and Planning A, 51(2), 527-544. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518x18796510

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 27, 2018
Online Publication Date Aug 31, 2018
Publication Date Mar 1, 2019
Deposit Date Aug 17, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Environment and Planning A
Print ISSN 0308-518X
Electronic ISSN 1472-3409
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 51
Issue 2
Pages 527-544
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518x18796510

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Copyright Statement
Cantor, A. & Knuth, S. (2019). Speculations on the postnatural: Restoration, accumulation, and sacrifice at the Salton Sea. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 51(2): 527-544. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.





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