Social Ecological Perspectives on J.G. Ballard’s The Drought

Authors : Cenk TAN

Pages : 1-19

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Publication Date : 2020-06-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :James Graham Ballard’s The Drought is the third work in a trilogy of climate fiction novels published in the early 1960s. As the primary examples of climate fiction, The Drought stands out in the series as the novel in which the catastrophe is fully caused by human activities. Thus, suitable for ecocritical analysis, this article analyzes The Drought from a social ecological perspective in specific. Moreover, social ecology is a philosophy and movement that emerged from environmental activist Murray Bookchin’s theories within the second wave of ecocriticism. Thus, this article analyzes Ballard’s The Drought from a social ecological perspective and reveals the implications that the author foresaw concerning the future of our planet. While criticizing the motives that led to the devastating catastrophe, Bookchin’s alternative proposal to prevent a global climate crisis is also mentioned as a possible solution to maintain a harmonious existence with nature. In addition, the article also scrutinizes Bookchin’s forerunner Lewis Mumford and one of the most recent scholars, Daniel Stokols’ contributions to the theory of social ecology. To that end, it has been concluded that Ballard targets the capitalist world order by exposing the devastating consequences of a climatic cataclysm caused by excessive industrial activities.
Keywords : J G Ballard, The Drought, Lewis Mumford, Ecocriticism, Sociol Ecology