Geologic Life

“Destined to be as influential as Kathryn Yusoff's masterful first book, Geologic Life thinks with geopower and geontopower in order to open rifts in the racist matrixes of time that divide and rank existence and to energize efforts seeking a more porous, less fungible encounter with subjectivity. As Yusoff sinks into the archives that compose the history of white geology, she lifts into view a multitude of missing earths—Indigenous, Black, and Brown earths—visible in seams of geologic ledgers. We must read Yusoff to see what is in front of our blinded eyes.” - Elizabeth A. Povinelli, author of Between Gaia and Ground: Four Axioms of Existence and the Ancestral Catastrophe of Late Liberalism

“This is a groundbreaking book of anticolonial praxis that brilliantly excavates the long racialized history of white geology as well as the ghost geologies that are critical foundations to our current and historical practices of extraction.” - Elizabeth M. DeLoughrey, author of Allegories of the Anthropocene

"This most recent volume by [Kathryn] Yusoff presents an alternative approach to understanding the racial roots of geology, focusing on white geology in order to decenter its influence. . . . Recommended. Graduate students and faculty." - E. C. Aiken, Choice

"Yusoff’s book, in drawing out the geologic foundation of colonial modernity in an intricate yet incisive way, is a watershed, demanding a rethinking of many familiar concepts in the humanities. Indeed, despite its originality, I am struck by Yusoff’s intellectual generosity and breadth. Geologic Life ranges across the humanities and social sciences, combining the insights of some of the most important intellectual movements of the current moment... as well as demonstrating the power of artists and writers, from Dionne Brand to Natalie Diaz, in resisting geopower." - Joe Davidson, H-Environment

"An expansive history of geology that fuses philosophy, aesthetics, Black critical studies, and grim forensics. ... The scope of Geologic Life is vertiginous: the mathematical formulas, (often painful) archival accounts of dehumanization, and analyses of contemporary art woven into the book contribute to this expansiveness." - Eyad Houssami, Critical Inquiry

"The scope of Geologic Life is vast, and Yusoff deftly handles the task." - Helen Ganiy, ISLE