Statement Regarding Charlottesville, August 2017

Statement from ASLE Leaders on Charlottesville

The following statement was issued by the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) Co-Presidents Christoph Irmscher and Anthony Lioi, Vice President Nicole Seymour, and Managing Director Amy McIntyre following the events in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.

August, 2017

As officers of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, we condemn the white supremacist terrorism of August 11th and 12th in Charlottesville, Virginia. The neo-Nazis responsible are driven by a blood-and-soil ideology that identifies a privileged racial group with the land itself. As environmental humanists, we repudiate the idea that Nature supports racism, colonialism, and empire. Fascist ideals of national purity boast a long history in Europe and the Americas. Blood-and-soil ideology is repugnant and must be resisted with all the tools at our disposal. We encourage our members to denounce it in their teaching, research, art, and activism.

Anthony Lioi
ASLE Co-President

Christoph Irmscher
ASLE Co-President

Nicole Seymour
ASLE Vice President

Amy McIntyre
ASLE Managing Director