Erosion

Gina Caison is Kenneth M. England Associate Professor of Southern Literature at Georgia State University, author of Red States: Indigeneity, Settler Colonialism, and Southern Studies, and coeditor of Remediating Region: New Media and the U.S. South.

• Acknowledgments  ixIntroduction: Erosion  11. Landslides and Horizons of the West  292. Surfaces and Allotments of the Heartland  683. Disappearing Grounds and Backgrounds of the Gulf  1074. Gullies and Removals of the Plantation South  1415. Littoral Cells and Literal Sells of the Atlantic  177Conclusion: What We Talk About When We Talk About Erosion  209Notes  221Bibliography  251Index  271

“Gina Caison’s Erosion is a superb example of environmental humanities scholarship and will serve as a model for the field’s methodologies and their affordances. Caison shows that the movement of soil across regions of the United States may appear naturalized but in fact reflects the ecological, social, and cultural depredations of settler colonialism and racial capital. Bringing Indigenous and regional studies perspectives to a powerful narrative of the material and metaphorical effects of the shifting ground of US settler land management, Erosion will generate keen, widespread interest.” - Hester Blum, author of (The News at the Ends of the Earth: The Print Culture of Polar Exploration) “Gina Caison’s important and careful analysis of the environmental impacts of settler colonialism reminds us that addressing and building climate justice will not come just from science-based inquiries but will be elevated by the work of the humanities to challenge and grow our perspectives on erosion and climate change. Caison’s work is extremely effective at demonstrating how settler colonial anxiety informs conservation and environmentalism and why critical and cultural conversations like this book are key to the future of building climate resiliency.” - Cutcha Risling Baldy, author of (We Are Dancing for You: Native Feminisms and the Revitalization of Women's Coming-of-Age Ceremonies)