Caleb O’Connor
- School: School of English Drama and Film
- Supervisor: Dr Treasa De Loughry
Queering Urban Ecologies: Rewilding, Rehabilitation, and Resistance in Contemporary Indigenous Queer Eco-Poetics
Caleb’s research explores how queer cultural production influences ecological commitments to urban change, by confronting the question of who sustainable cityscapes are being built for and where subaltern communities fit into green futurities. Contemporary transitions towards climate-friendly cities and green neighbourhoods have been critiqued for proliferating the displacement of working-class and underprivileged communities in urban centres through a process known as eco-gentrification. The neoliberal incentive of urban greening has limited the access of clean-water, organic food, and accessibility in many major world cities to those who can afford it. By reading thepoetry of Tommy Pico, Julian T. Brolaski, Jake Skeets, Caleb’s research seeks to understand how the emergence of an indigiqueer poetics explores new ways of thinking about the relationship between nature and culture, through a synthesis of trans poetics and Beat traditions. By reading theaesthetics of emergent indigiqueer poetics, Caleb’s thesis considers how the form’s preoccupation with rehabilitation might offer a fresh perspective on queer-ecological thought. Mapped along the water, energy, and food (WEF) nexus, Caleb’s thesis seeks to explore the ways that indigiqueer poetics utilises queer ecological and intersectional thought to imagine alternative socio-ecological systems.
PhD Candidate (2020-present)
Ad Astra Scholar
Contact details:
Tel: +353-1-716 4693
Email: (opens in a new window)caleb.oconnor@ucdconnect.ie