Redefining the oppressed: The biotariat, ecolinguistics, and world-ecology

Abstract

This article attempts to strengthen an existing argument that for ecolinguistics to fulfill its critical potential, it must move beyond “shallow environmentalism”. This may be done by adopting a historical-materialist framework to identify the actual agents of ecological harm, as well as properly attribute agency to the oppressed. The article proposes Jason W. Moore’s world-ecology as an innovative “ecosophy” for this purpose, as it posits capitalism not as a social or economic system, but an ecological regime that develops through the web of life. To demonstrate this approach in practice, the paper uses the term “biotariat” as a central case study. Originally coined by the poet and scholar Stephen Collis, the term was adopted by Moore and transformed from a poetic into a powerful theoretical and analytical tool that redefines class struggle as a “multispecies affair”. Through an analysis of the term’s etymology, discursive functions and potential political impact, the article shows how the “biotariat” linguistically unifies the exploitation of human and nonhuman life and makes the unseen “unpaid work” of nature visible. The conclusion of the article is that there is more to ecolinguistics than deconstructing dominant narratives and proposing new econarratives. By grounding its analysis in historical materialism, the field can not only help reveal capitalist exploitation and appropriation of all life, but also facilitate construction of liberating counternarratives that connect “proletarian emancipation and biotarian liberation” as a single journey toward a just and truly sustainable future.