Our fall quarter seminar series continues with PhD student Anna Malesis presenting on October 22 in Gould Hall 440 from 12:30-1:30pm. This is an in-person seminar.
Title: Increasing Emancipation: Posthumanist Planning as an Expansion of a Feminist Epistemological Critique of Planning
Abstract:
While urban planning has evolved to include a wider array of human perspectives, and planning theorists have proposed ways to best include voices of urban residents from different backgrounds and identities, it remains predominantly anthropocentric. None of the other species that live, thrive, or die alongside humans in cities are granted consideration. Even as other divides are broken down, the human/nonhuman divide remains (Houston et al. 2017; Metzger 2019). While this has always resulted in the subordination of nonhumans in the urban landscape (Wolch 2002; Houston et al. 2017;), this condition has become increasingly untenable. The Anthropocene, and the environmental instability and hazards it brings with it, marks the end of our ability to ignore our interdependence on nonhuman systems and agents. Our ability to respect and respond to these agents, and our entanglements with them, is a matter of survival (Houston et al. 2017; Jon 2020). The time is ripe for a shift to posthumanist planning—planning that considers and includes the needs and perspectives of nonhuman species, such as animals, plants, fungi, etcetera, and sometimes even landscapes, environmental features, or natural processes (Wolch 2002; Houston et al. 2017; Metzger 2019; Jon 2020). As such, posthumanist planning seeks to reshape human identity by recognizing our entanglement with and dependence on nonhuman entities, and in recognizing their value and agency, incorporate them as actors in urban democracy and the planning process (Metzger 2019; Houston et al. 2017).
In this paper, I argue that posthumanist planning expands upon Snyder’s (1995) feminist epistemological critique of planning. In fact, a truly emancipatory planning practice must include nonhuman perspectives. I ask, in what ways does integrating non-human perspectives redefine emancipatory planning practice? To address these questions, the paper first articulates the rationale for posthumanist planning as a necessary evolution of Snyder’s critique, which calls for an emancipatory planning practice that acknowledges diverse ways of knowing and actively dismantles social hierarchies. I explain the rationale for and goals of posthumanist planning, describe how posthumanist planning builds on Snyder’s (1995) critique of and implications for planning, and, finally, review some of the existing posthumanist concepts and strategies for urban design and planning, as well as discuss future directions. While Snyder (1995) advocates for breaking down dualities, diminishing the role of the expert, and making citizen participation more interactive, as long as the human/nonhuman dualism remains intact, there will still be subjugation and marginalization (Wolch 2002; Houston et al. 2017). Truly emancipatory planning practice must support the emancipation of nonhumans in cities, respect and become attuned to nonhuman knowledge, and allow them to participate in governance processes (Wolch 2002; Houston et al. 2017; Metzger 2019; Jon 2020).
While posthumanist concepts and strategies are starting to be explored in planning and other built environments fields, multispecies systems are inherently complex and that planning decisions may result in unforeseen consequences. Reflection must be an important part of this process (Metzger 2019). The paper calls for further development of frameworks and strategies that can operationalize posthumanist planning. It highlights the geographic imbalance in posthumanist literature and practice, advocating for a broader global engagement with posthumanist ideas, particularly in regions like North America where such perspectives are less recognized. Through this inquiry, the paper seeks to substantiate posthumanist planning as a logical and necessary expansion of emancipatory planning principles to include non-human agencies, thereby reshaping human identity in the age of the Anthropocene.
Bio:
Anna is a PhD student in the Urban Ecology Research Lab at the University of Washington College of Built Environments. Her research interests include scenario planning, urban complexity, landscape ecology, climate adaptation, urban eco-evolutionary dynamics, and planning for both people and nature. She is also pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Climate Science.