Afrofeminist politics of reparation. Countering the intersectional structures of a French ecocide

Much research has shown that the climate crisis has deeply gendered, racialised, sexualised, classed, and ableist effects. However, the ‘loss and damages’ that are brought on by the climate crisis are merely the last in a line of an ecocide that has affected marginalised lives for centuries. In this contribution, I suggest to analyse contemporary human-nature relations through a decolonial feminist lens. Through this lens, I look at the example of the Chlordécone case in the French Antilles. I argue that an Afrofeminist perspective, i.e., a perspective that considers Afro-diasporic feminist counter-politics as considerate of the French imperial and colonial past, enables us to critically analyse this ecocide as well as envision alternative futures. Therefore, I will analyse Afrofeminist material on reparations in relation to the climate crisis and the Chlordécone case more specifically, including articles, podcast episodes, or event reports. In doing so, this talk will, on the one hand, outline the material and epistemic violence that happened and still happens through the French ecocide and, on the other hand, suggest to view politics of reparation as counter-politics to ongoing (green) extractivist economies.