Settler Colonialism and the Environmental Imaginary of Fascism
Settler Colonialism and the Environmental Imaginary of Fascism
How can we understand the influence of settler colonialism on fascistic views of the environment? With the rise of right-wing nationalisms globally amidst large scale challenges of environmental change and collapse, it is not unusual for far-right politicians and social movements to draw upon environmental tropes to create nostalgic visions of nation and exclusionary visions of race. While these visions of environment are commonly used to mobilize binary gender and closed borders as technologies for revitalizing the nation, they also summon a variety of settler colonial tropes related to land, agriculture, animals, population, and migration that signal a long and complex history of settler representation in fascist theories.
Turning to examples from the U.S., Germany, and India, this talk considers how fascist writings from the early- to mid-twentieth century reflected the influence of settler colonialism on the fascist imaginary and set the stage for today's right-wing engagements with environmental thought and discourse. Considering how settler colonial tropes infuse fascistic ideas about land and nature across borders, the talk concludes by revisiting some major distinctions made in theoretical discussions of settler colonialism (appropriation of land vs labor, settler vs franchise colonialism) that are complicated or confounded in fascist considerations of environment.
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Neel Ahuja is Professor and Interim Chair of the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Neel teaches a variety of courses in critical race and ethnic studies, feminist science studies, disability studies, and environmental humanities. His research explores the relationship of the body to the geopolitical, environmental, and public health contexts of colonial governance, warfare, and security. Neel is the author of two books, Bioinsecurities: Disease Interventions, Empire, and the Government of Species (2016) and Planetary Specters: Race, Migration, and Climate Change in the Twenty-First Century (2021).
This talk is part of the WGSS Graduate Colloquium Works In Progress Speaker Series. The series pairs a 30-minute work-in-progress or conference-style talk with 30 minutes of questions, discussion, and feedback. All pre-candidacy graduate students will present during the 2026–27 academic year alongside special guests from the WGSS community.