Ecofascists, like other far-right extremists, rail against multiculturalism, interracial reproduction, feminism, and — most of all — immigrants whose very presence is perceived to threaten the (white) Euro-American landscape and cultural ecologies. The most identifiable aspect is an obsessive preoccupation with “overpopulation”; this is used to justify calls to secure borders and deport — or, at its most extreme, to kill — what they call polluting “invaders.”
The “Great Replacement” (GR) conspiracy theory is a cornerstone of ecofascist ideology that fuels domestic demographic anxieties. GR ideas connect to century-old eugenic policies and the notions of “carrying capacity,” “population bomb” (Paul Ehrlich), and “tragedy of the commons” (Garret Hardin) from the late 1960s. These ideas re-manifested in John Tanton’s network of organizations founded in the 1980s and 1990s such as Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and Population-Environment Balance.
Join us for this four-part series hosted by the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences and moderated by Chloe Ahmann, assistant professor of Anthropology. The virtual discussion will feature Rajani Bhatia, Director of Graduate Studies in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University at Albany, who argues that in the context of intensifying climate-change impacts, populationist thinking and agendas tempt broad audiences by providing an easy scapegoat.
