Queer Reefs – A Queer Ecological Journey into Blasted Seascapes

Abstract

Coral reefs in the Anthropocene, emerging as impure and disturbed life forms, can be seen as unexpected sources of hope in catastrophic times. The current conservation debate on the preservation of ‹pristine› reefs is in urgent need of a re-reading through the lens of queer ecologies: namely, the reconceptualization of reefs as spaces of ‹impurity›, ‹brokenness› and ‹the wild›. Blasted seascapes could offer a glimpse of a convivial future that holds promise for queer ways of life.

Keywords
blasted landscapes, queer ecology, coral reefs, ocean, impurity