Projects

Philosophy in and for a Wounded Planet

My main research focus in the past years has been the elaboration of a “Philosophy in and for a wounded planet”. In contrast with major environmental theories, I challenge “nature” both as concept and a set of practices, proposing an environmental thought attuned to the ecologies of attention and care inhabited by singular beings. Through the concept of planetary wounds—the unmakings of the material-semiotic webs that sustain the existences of Earth’s inhabitants and environments—I show how human and nonhuman beings experience differently the current ecological perturbations. I approach these questions by developing the conceptual tools necessary to be attentive and receptive to other modes of inhabiting the Earth, in close dialogue with Indigenous philosophies and cosmologies, especially those from South America. This was the main topic of my dissertation.

Since 2016, this project has yielded publications, seminars, conference talks, and outreach activities. I am currently working on a book concluding the publishing arc for this investigative endeavor. This project has been supported by a large variety of large and small grants, mainly from the Brazilian Government.

Environmentalities: a history of nature-making practices

This project examines the history of nature-making practices and their many clashes with forms of environmentality not organized around nature. This was one of the secondary topics of my dissertation, and I have had more opportunities to develop it after obtaining my PhD. In it, I also explore the opposition between terraforming and xenoforming practices, those that make the Earth more livable for its inhabitants and those that make the Earth a planet fit for alien species. Additionally, I analyze and draw from fictional speculations on knowledge and truth-making practices, especially those in so-called ‘genre’ fiction. This project has resulted in publications, conference talks, and has been the object of many courses.

The Desnaturadas book series

Together with Alyne Costa, I am editor of the “Desnaturadas” book series, with the Bazar do Tempo publishing house in Brazil. The series focuses on Environmental Humanities and Science Studies books written by women. Titles in the series are so far:

Yusoff, Kathryn. Um Bilhão de Antropocenos Negros ou Nenhum, 2025 (forthcoming).

Despret, Vinciane. Habitar Como Aves. 2025 (forthcoming).

De La Cadena, Marisol. Seres-Terra: Cosmopolíticas em Mundos Andinos, 2024. (I also partially translated the book from English).

Stengers, Isabelle. Uma Outra Ciência é Possível: Manifesto por uma Desaceleração das Ciências, 2023. (I also translated the book from French and English).

Despret, Vinciane. Autobiografia de um polvo: e outras narrativas de antecipação, 2022.