Papers by Linde De Vroey
Environmental Values , 2025
This article re-investigates the underlying values driving the rapidly growing rewilding movement... more This article re-investigates the underlying values driving the rapidly growing rewilding movement in Europe and North America. In doing so, we respond to a common academic narrative that draws a sharp distinction between North American and European approaches to rewilding. Whereas the first is said to promote a colonial vision of wilderness, European rewilding is claimed to value a more inclusive notion of wildness. We challenge this narrative through a genealogical investigation into the wild(er)ness ideas that inspired rewilding, showing that North American and European rewilding draw from similar philosophical sources with cross-continental origins. Thus, we contend that a linguistic shift from ‘wilderness’ to ‘wildness’ fails to engage substantively with the colonial critique it alleges to resolve. Through two case studies, we show how both wilderness and wildness concepts have been employed to support either colonialism or decolonial resistance and draw attention to the need to consider specific socio-political contexts when assessing rewilding. Ultimately, we propose that reclaiming a liberatory meaning of wild(er)ness, articulated in a critical tradition of wild(er)ness advocacy, will be an essential step in decolonising rewilding.
Environmental Ethics, 2023
In this article, rewilding’s orientation towards the past is discussed. A response is given to th... more In this article, rewilding’s orientation towards the past is discussed. A response is given to the criticisms that condemn rewilding for its retrospectivity, either as nostalgically clinging to the past or escaping history. Instead, it is shown how rewilding can embrace nostalgia as part of a critical, (counter-)cultural vision aimed at the transformation of modern culture. Its main goal can be seen as threefold: first, it is aimed at providing a more nuanced assessment of rewilding’s contested stance towards the past (and thereby, the future) through the lens of nostalgia. Second, it is demonstrated how, seen through this lens, cultural and ecological aspects of rewilding appear inextricably intertwined. Third, the concepts of ‘cultural rewilding’ and ‘recovery’ are introduced as valuable notions within rewilding. In sum, an appeal is provided for rewilders to embrace the past by dedicating attention towards cultural heritage, history, memory, and tradition.
Religions, 2024
Rewilding is regularly connected to re-enchantment. In some rewilding projects, ecological restor... more Rewilding is regularly connected to re-enchantment. In some rewilding projects, ecological restoration merges with narratives of wonder, enchantment and spirituality. While rewilding’s association with re-enchantment appears as part of its appeal, it is also criticised as anthropocentric, escapist or naive. This article aims to formulate a thorough conceptual understanding of rewilding as re-enchantment by situating it within the critical framework of (dis)enchantment developed in the early 20th century by Weber and Horkheimer and Adorno. Connecting this framework to contemporary, phenomenologically inspired accounts of enchantment and critiques on the mechanisation of nature, this article aims towards a new perspective on rewilding as a critical discursive practice of re-enchantment. Rewilding, like re-enchantment, can be seen as a valuable attempt to formulate alternatives to the modern paradigm and programme of disenchantment. Situating rewilding within a broader cultural context and historical perspective, this approach allows for assessing rewilding as part of modern (counter-)culture at large. Moreover, through a detailed account of (re-)enchantment in rewilding on a phenomenological, theoretical and relational level, this article gradually develops a conceptual understanding of re-enchantment as a valuable concept for ecological restoration and cultural transformation.
Conference Announcement by Linde De Vroey
Programme and further details: https://cetep.eu/rethinking-wild-europe/
This conference addresse... more Programme and further details: https://cetep.eu/rethinking-wild-europe/
This conference addresses the ethics and narratives surrounding wilderness, wildness, rewilding, and ecological restoration in Europe. We aim to assess the impact of these concepts and approaches on the European landscape, which has historically been a hybrid mixture of wildlife and human culture.
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Papers by Linde De Vroey
Conference Announcement by Linde De Vroey
This conference addresses the ethics and narratives surrounding wilderness, wildness, rewilding, and ecological restoration in Europe. We aim to assess the impact of these concepts and approaches on the European landscape, which has historically been a hybrid mixture of wildlife and human culture.
This conference addresses the ethics and narratives surrounding wilderness, wildness, rewilding, and ecological restoration in Europe. We aim to assess the impact of these concepts and approaches on the European landscape, which has historically been a hybrid mixture of wildlife and human culture.