Microbial Geographies at the Extremes of Life
Abstract This article explores world-making processes through which extreme frontiers of life are made habitable. Examining how notions of life are enlarged, incorporated, and appropriated in complex geopolitical contexts, the article argues that microbial worlds are becoming part of worlding proces...
Published in: | Environmental Humanities |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Duke University Press
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/22011919-4215361 https://read.dukeupress.edu/environmental-humanities/article-pdf/9/2/398/1551676/398salazar.pdf |
id |
crdukeunivpr:10.1215/22011919-4215361 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crdukeunivpr:10.1215/22011919-4215361 2024-06-02T07:56:15+00:00 Microbial Geographies at the Extremes of Life Salazar, Juan Francisco 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/22011919-4215361 https://read.dukeupress.edu/environmental-humanities/article-pdf/9/2/398/1551676/398salazar.pdf en eng Duke University Press Environmental Humanities volume 9, issue 2, page 398-417 ISSN 2201-1919 2201-1919 journal-article 2017 crdukeunivpr https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-4215361 2024-05-07T13:15:16Z Abstract This article explores world-making processes through which extreme frontiers of life are made habitable. Examining how notions of life are enlarged, incorporated, and appropriated in complex geopolitical contexts, the article argues that microbial worlds are becoming part of worlding processes and projects that further these frontiers. The emphasis on “microbial ontologies” is designed to draw attention to the increasing expediency of conceptualizing extreme earthly ecologies as analogues for other planetary worlds, as a way of tracing the relational trajectories of Antarctica and outer space, and to reflect on emerging modes of an extraterrestrial mode of thinking Earth. This article is informed by short-term ethnographic fieldwork in the Antarctic Peninsula with Chilean microbiologists engaged in the bioprospecting of extremophiles, to account for how extremophile organisms are made part of a market-driven search for bioactive components in areas highly sensitive to geopolitics at the same time as they become meaningful as proxies for extraterrestrial life. The article combines analysis, description, and fieldwork material, tracing the relational trajectories of Antarctica and outer space in very general terms and then discussing the intricacies of bioprospecting in Antarctica, where the question of who owns the microbial diversity existing outside of national territories remains ambiguous and contested. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Duke University Press Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Environmental Humanities 9 2 398 417 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Duke University Press |
op_collection_id |
crdukeunivpr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract This article explores world-making processes through which extreme frontiers of life are made habitable. Examining how notions of life are enlarged, incorporated, and appropriated in complex geopolitical contexts, the article argues that microbial worlds are becoming part of worlding processes and projects that further these frontiers. The emphasis on “microbial ontologies” is designed to draw attention to the increasing expediency of conceptualizing extreme earthly ecologies as analogues for other planetary worlds, as a way of tracing the relational trajectories of Antarctica and outer space, and to reflect on emerging modes of an extraterrestrial mode of thinking Earth. This article is informed by short-term ethnographic fieldwork in the Antarctic Peninsula with Chilean microbiologists engaged in the bioprospecting of extremophiles, to account for how extremophile organisms are made part of a market-driven search for bioactive components in areas highly sensitive to geopolitics at the same time as they become meaningful as proxies for extraterrestrial life. The article combines analysis, description, and fieldwork material, tracing the relational trajectories of Antarctica and outer space in very general terms and then discussing the intricacies of bioprospecting in Antarctica, where the question of who owns the microbial diversity existing outside of national territories remains ambiguous and contested. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Salazar, Juan Francisco |
spellingShingle |
Salazar, Juan Francisco Microbial Geographies at the Extremes of Life |
author_facet |
Salazar, Juan Francisco |
author_sort |
Salazar, Juan Francisco |
title |
Microbial Geographies at the Extremes of Life |
title_short |
Microbial Geographies at the Extremes of Life |
title_full |
Microbial Geographies at the Extremes of Life |
title_fullStr |
Microbial Geographies at the Extremes of Life |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microbial Geographies at the Extremes of Life |
title_sort |
microbial geographies at the extremes of life |
publisher |
Duke University Press |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/22011919-4215361 https://read.dukeupress.edu/environmental-humanities/article-pdf/9/2/398/1551676/398salazar.pdf |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica |
op_source |
Environmental Humanities volume 9, issue 2, page 398-417 ISSN 2201-1919 2201-1919 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-4215361 |
container_title |
Environmental Humanities |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
398 |
op_container_end_page |
417 |
_version_ |
1800754575747055616 |