It Was Always Blood and Soil: Ecofascism and the Racial Capitalocene

Abstract

In this article, we reconceptualise ecofascism by tracing its roots back to their colonial origin, and in doing so provide firmer ground on which to confront it. First, we outline contemporary literature on ecofascism and isolate three areas of confusion: the actions that constitute it, the most relevant actors, and the theoretical genealogy that best explains it. Second, we offer our own conception of ecofascism by reading Aimé Césaire's conception of fascism as colonial categories and tactics that “boomerang” back into the colonial core alongside the “racial capitalocene” framework. This juxtaposition illuminates colonialism and ecofascism as inextricably interconnected phenomena. Thus, we reconceive of ecofascism as the culmination of the colonial logics of extractivism, dehumanisation, and racialised violence finally made legible to and felt by the colonial core. Finally, we articulate forms of confrontation that contest the conditions of possibility for ecofascism as such.