A Resonant Ecology
A Resonant Ecology by Max Ritts, published by Duke University Press on October 4, 2024, offers an in-depth exploration of the role of sound in the environmental politics of Canada’s North Coast. This 214-page book examines how the integration of sound, particularly whale songs and other natural sounds, has been utilized in the context of industrial expansion and conservation efforts. Ritts critiques the ways in which colonial capitalism can appropriate these sonic elements, revealing the complexities surrounding their use in promoting local wildlife while facilitating industrial interests.
Readers will find a critical analysis of how digital technologies are reshaping the experience of sound, transforming it into a resource for mapping new shipping lanes rather than fostering genuine listening. Ritts argues that sound can both support and challenge capitalist colonialism, presenting it as an uncertain object within environmental discourse. By employing a situated geographical approach, he advocates for a decolonial and multigenerational environmental politics to address the misleading narratives of “sustainable marine development” perpetuated by industry and the state. This edition invites readers to reconsider the implications of sound in ecological contexts, emphasizing the need for a more nuanced understanding of its role in environmental science and politics.
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In A Resonant Ecology, Max Ritts traces how sound’s integration into the environmental politics of Canada’s North Coast has paved the way for massive industrial expansion. While conservationists hope that the dissemination of whale songs and other nature sounds will showcase the beauty of local wildlife for people around the world, Ritts reveals how colonial capitalism can co-opt sonic efforts to protect the coast. He demonstrates how digital technologies allow industry to sonically map new shipping lanes and facilitate new ways of experiencing sound—premised not on listening, but on sound’s exploitable status as a data resource. By outlining how sound can both perpetuate and refuse capitalist colonialism, Ritts challenges the idea that the sonic realm is inherently liberatory and reveals sound to be a powerfully uncertain object. Through a situated geographical approach, he makes the case that only a decolonial and multigenerational environmental politics can counter the false promise of “sustainable marine development” held up by industry and the state.
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