Precarity in the Capitalocene:

This paper, mapping the trajectory of migrant workers’ lives in Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island, locates precarity in the nexus of capitalism and climate change and identifies the latter as a new determinant of precarity. Heightened precariousness is generally perceived today as an effect of confli...

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Main Author: S.A.M. Raihanur Rahman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: ULAB Press 2023-12-01
Series:Crossings
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.ulab.edu.bd/index.php/crossings/article/view/485
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author S.A.M. Raihanur Rahman
author_facet S.A.M. Raihanur Rahman
author_sort S.A.M. Raihanur Rahman
collection DOAJ
description This paper, mapping the trajectory of migrant workers’ lives in Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island, locates precarity in the nexus of capitalism and climate change and identifies the latter as a new determinant of precarity. Heightened precariousness is generally perceived today as an effect of conflicts and wars. Contemporary South Asian novels mostly explore how caste, class, religion, gender, and sexuality condition the production of precariousness in today’s world. My paper looks into the production of a precarious subject seldom represented in contemporary South Asian Literature: climate refugees. Drawing upon Gun Island, I argue that climate refugees inform us about the necessity to expand our understanding of vulnerability so we are able to factor in those whose lives have been upended by the effects of anthropogenic climate change along with the dynamics of neoliberal capitalism.
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spelling doaj-art-2c133f3829504eb98c35743cbaddbca52025-08-20T02:34:47ZengULAB PressCrossings2071-11072958-31792023-12-0114Precarity in the Capitalocene:S.A.M. Raihanur Rahman0PhD Student, Department of English, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA This paper, mapping the trajectory of migrant workers’ lives in Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island, locates precarity in the nexus of capitalism and climate change and identifies the latter as a new determinant of precarity. Heightened precariousness is generally perceived today as an effect of conflicts and wars. Contemporary South Asian novels mostly explore how caste, class, religion, gender, and sexuality condition the production of precariousness in today’s world. My paper looks into the production of a precarious subject seldom represented in contemporary South Asian Literature: climate refugees. Drawing upon Gun Island, I argue that climate refugees inform us about the necessity to expand our understanding of vulnerability so we are able to factor in those whose lives have been upended by the effects of anthropogenic climate change along with the dynamics of neoliberal capitalism. https://journals.ulab.edu.bd/index.php/crossings/article/view/485Climate changeAnthropoceneprecariousness/precaritycapitalismworld-ecology
spellingShingle S.A.M. Raihanur Rahman
Precarity in the Capitalocene:
Crossings
Climate change
Anthropocene
precariousness/precarity
capitalism
world-ecology
title Precarity in the Capitalocene:
title_full Precarity in the Capitalocene:
title_fullStr Precarity in the Capitalocene:
title_full_unstemmed Precarity in the Capitalocene:
title_short Precarity in the Capitalocene:
title_sort precarity in the capitalocene
topic Climate change
Anthropocene
precariousness/precarity
capitalism
world-ecology
url https://journals.ulab.edu.bd/index.php/crossings/article/view/485
work_keys_str_mv AT samraihanurrahman precarityinthecapitalocene