Multispecies Justice and the Capitalocene: Interconnected Lives in Richard Powers’ The Overstory

Authors

  • Khadija Farooq Lahore College for Women University Author
  • Sarah Abdullah Lahore College for Women University Author

Keywords:

Capitalism, Dystopia, Ecoprecarity, Multispecies Justice, Resistance, Trees.

Abstract

This research examines both the theoretical underpinnings of multispecies justice as well as its implications and literary representation in Richard Powers' The Overstory. It draws on the anthropological reflections of Anna Tsing, especially on interspecies entanglements and ecological precarity, to explore how The Overstory provides a compelling narrative framework for imagining a justice beyond the human. The overarching aim is to get insight into the novel's profound critique of capitalist extraction and political resistance to environmental degradation in the Capitalocene, as well as a renewed ethical engagement with the nonhuman world.

References

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Moore, J. W. (2015). Capitalism in the web of life: Ecology and the Accumulation of Capital. Verso Books.

Powers, R. (2024). The Overstory. Penguin Group.

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Tsing, A. L. (2017). The mushroom at the end of the world: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton University Press.

Woodward, K. (2022). “Old trees are our parents.” Age Culture Humanities an Interdisciplinary Journal, 6. https://doi.org/10.7146/ageculturehumanities.v6i.132851

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Published

2026-07-01

How to Cite

Khadija Farooq, & Sarah Abdullah, S. A. (2026). Multispecies Justice and the Capitalocene: Interconnected Lives in Richard Powers’ The Overstory. University of Chitral Journal of Linguistics and Literature, 10(I), 176-181. https://jll.uoch.edu.pk/index.php/jll/article/view/502

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