Petro-masculinity: Fossil fuels and authoritarian desire

C Daggett - Millennium, 2018 - journals.sagepub.com
Millennium, 2018journals.sagepub.com
As the planet warms, new authoritarian movements in the West are embracing a toxic
combination of climate denial, racism and misogyny. Rather than consider these
resentments separately, this article interrogates their relationship through the concept of
petro-masculinity, which appreciates the historic role of fossil fuel systems in buttressing
white patriarchal rule. Petro-masculinity is helpful to understanding how the anxieties
aroused by the Anthropocene can augment desires for authoritarianism. The concept of …
As the planet warms, new authoritarian movements in the West are embracing a toxic combination of climate denial, racism and misogyny. Rather than consider these resentments separately, this article interrogates their relationship through the concept of petro-masculinity, which appreciates the historic role of fossil fuel systems in buttressing white patriarchal rule. Petro-masculinity is helpful to understanding how the anxieties aroused by the Anthropocene can augment desires for authoritarianism. The concept of petro-masculinity suggests that fossil fuels mean more than profit; fossil fuels also contribute to making identities, which poses risks for post-carbon energy politics. Moreover, through a psycho-political reading of authoritarianism, I show how fossil fuel use can function as a violent compensatory practice in reaction to gender and climate trouble.
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