Underflows - (Feminist Technosciences) by Cleo Wolfle Hazard (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Connects river sciences to queer and trans theory through collaborative restoration work

Rivers host vibrant multispecies communities in their waters and along their banks, and, according to queer-trans-feminist river scientist Cleo Wölfle Hazard, their future vitality requires centering the values of justice, sovereignty, and dynamism. At the intersection of river sciences, queer and trans theory, and environmental justice, Underflows explores river cultures and politics at five sites of water conflict and restoration in California, Oregon, and Washington.

Incorporating work with salmon, beaver, and floodplain recovery projects, Wölfle Hazard weaves narratives about innovative field research practices with an affectively oriented queer and trans focus on love and grief for rivers and fish. Drawing on the idea of underflows--the parts of a river's flow that can't be seen, the underground currents that seep through soil or rise from aquifers through cracks in bedrock--Wölfle Hazard elucidates the underflows in river cultures, sciences, and politics where Native nations and marginalized communities fight to protect rivers. The result is a deeply moving account of why rivers matter for queer and trans life, offering critical insights that point to innovative ways of doing science that disrupt settler colonialism and new visions for justice in river governance.

Review Quotes

"Underflows will be deeply relevant to thinkers across and beyond academic disciplines. At various times addressed to practitioners of the ecological sciences, river workers, queer and trans theorists, ecocritics, and queer and trans folks outside academia, Wölfle Hazard's exciting and thought-provoking study offers much-needed insight into queer and trans ecology and its affinities with Indigenous science, environmental justice, ecopoetics, and river ecosystems."

"Covering an impressive swath of ground, this book presents insightful and challenging departures in theory and methodology and is a worthwhile read for ecological scientists and social theorists alike."

"In insightful, inviting, and compelling ways, Underflows brings attention to possibilities beneath and beyond the surface flows of straight/settler science...[I]nnovative, collaborative approaches like Wölfle Hazard's, particularly where they support and align with Indigenous-led stewardship and maintenance, are more crucial than ever."

About the Author

Cleo Wölfle Hazard is assistant professor in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington, coauthor of Thirsty for Justice: A People's Blueprint for California Water, and coeditor of Dam Nation: Dispatches from the Water Underground.