Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos, ol. 26, 2022. Se ille, Spain, ISSN1133-309-X, pp i-iii
SPECIAL SECTION ON REPRESENTATIONS OF HUMAN
AND ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITY IN NORTH
AMERICAN LITERATURE
Gues edi o s:
Ana Chapman (Uni e si y o Málaga)
Lucía Benne (Uni e si y o G anada)
INTRODUCTION
Since he 9/11 a acks on he Wo ld T ade Cen e sombe ly
inaugu a ed he new millennium, c i ical discou ses on auma,
g ie ing and ulne abili y ha e gained ele ance in he academic
sphe e. The global dimension o hese e en s was howe e based on
hei media ic epe cussions wo ldwide, a he han on he ac ual
physical impac ha hey had on he wo ld popula ion. Th oughou
he ollowing wo decades o he wen y- i s cen u y, in e sec ing
en i onmen al, economic and echnological de elopmen s in o
globaliza ion a e e ealing a heigh ened awa eness o a simila ly global
ulne abili y ha isibilize embodied o ms o ongoing auma, public
g ie ing and s uc u al opp ession o p eca ious li e o ms and
en i onmen al condi ions. These s and agains he backd op o he
Fou h Indus ial Re olu ion (4 h IR), which is ambiguously pu
o wa d as ei he he o igin o solu ion o his si ua ion. The las wo
yea s o pandemic ha e in ensi ied he in e dependence o i ual
connec ion and social aliena ion/exclusion ela ing echno-digi al
hype connec edness and embodied o ms o exis ence, gi ing a new
sense o he concep o “ isk socie y” de eloped a he u n o he
cen u y (Beck 1992; Giddens 1998).
This special issue c i ically explo es he o ms o human and
en i onmen al ulne abili ies ha a e gene a ed in he con ex o he
4 h IR, including ulne able o ms o human and non-human
in e subjec i i y such as online embodied (onli e) in e aces o
“in o gs” (Mayna d 2015), p eca ious li e and wo king condi ions
esul ing om he global dimension o he 4 h IR, en i onmen al o ms
ii Ana Chapman, Lucía Benne
Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos, ol. 26, 2022. Se ille, Spain, ISSN1133-309-X, pp i-iii.
o ulne abili y in he 4 h IR, he ole o he pandemic in aising
awa eness abou global ulne abili y, o he hie a chical
na u ecul u es (Ha away 2003) eme ging om anshumanis e hics.
I includes a icles on li e a y discou ses ha ep esen human and
en i onmen al ulne abili ies as he objec o aes he ic
spec acula iza ion (Ga land Thomson 1997, 2017) in an in o ma ion-
sa u a ed ade ma ke , wi h special incidence on o ms o human
ulne abili y based on economic and en i onmen al p eca iousness
(Bu le 2004; 2009; Bu le e al. 2016; Bu le 2020) as well as
disabili y. This issue also explo es he ins umen aliza ion as a
na a i e p os hesis (Mi chell and Snyde 2000) o human and
ecological ulne abili y as in he cons uc ion o he anshumanis
ideologies unde lying mos o he 4 h IR om a pos humanis c i ical
pe spec i e.
In his special issue, Rubén Peinado Aba io p esen s a c i ical
s udy o Jenny O ill’s Wea he (2020) aking as a s a ing poin he
isk socie y and agmen a ion in he digi al a ea. Peinado Aba io
a gues ha O ill ep esen s a c i ical pos humanis wo ld which is in
need o collec i e in e dependence. Decolonial ecologies and he
possibili ies o esis ance and hope in he con ex o he 4 h IR a e
explo ed in Mónica Fe nández Jiménez’s a icle. She explo es Edwidge
Dan ica ’s Clai e o he Sea Ligh (2013) in ela ion o he coloniali y o
clima e and he blending o human and en i onmen al na a i es.
Espe anza González Mo eno combines Baud illa d’s simulac a heo y
and Mi chell and Synde ’s na a i e p os hesis o suppo he main
hesis o he e ec s o echnology and he image in O essa Mosh egh’s
no el My Yea o Res and Relaxa ion (2018). An in e disciplina y
analysis is ound in he a icle by Elena Anas asaki and Roula Ki siou,
who discuss he use o concep ual me apho s (Lako and Johnson,
1980) in Ch is ina Dalche ’s Vox in connec ion o women's
ulne abili y. Thei examina ion o Vox wo ks a ound he s ances o
silence and gende in a echnologically-media ed wo ld. Collec i e
ulne abili y and no ions o mou ning in a global pandemic con ex
a e discussed in Leono Ma ínez Se ano’s a icle on Goye e’s
Sols ice 2020: An A chi e (2021). She b ings up conce ns abou
Special Sec ion iii
Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos, ol. 26, 2022. Se ille, Spain, ISSN1133-309-X, pp i-iii
ulne abili y in connec ion o he mo e- han-human wo ld o
emphasise Goye e’s e lec ion on collec i i y and ulne abili y a
complex and unp eceden ed imes such as he COVID19 pandemics
he wo ld encoun e ed in 2020.
All hese con ibu ions p o ide highly aluable insigh s in o he
con empo a y deba e o how he 4 h IR is ans o ming he way
humans and non-humans li e and in e ac whils also c ea ing new
o ms o ulne abili ies. The analysis o No h Ame ican li e a y and
cul u al ex s p esen ed in his sec ion opens nume ous oppo uni ies
o disco e and expand he deba e om a pos human and anshuman
pe spec i e in ou cu en socie y.