Pronouns for an apocalyptic future: asymmetrical terms for a new era

Abstract

Pronouns, particularly gendered pronouns, convey how apocalyptic futures are understood for differently positioned subjects. The “we” is not always about embracing a commons but can also be about extending exclusions. Drawing from social linguistics and the concept of shifters, science and technology studies and the ideas of symmetry, asymmetry, as well as the author’s ethnographic research at two orangutan rehabilitation centers on Borneo in present day Malaysia, this paper highlights the power of pronouns in imagining whose lives are at risk or endangered in a pending apocalypse, including the present Sixth Age of Extinction and popular fears about the end of the world.

Keywords

• feminist science studies
• animacies
• strong programme
• strongmen
• shifters