Glossary

The posthumanist theory of companion species was proposed by prominent feminist theorist and scholar Donna Haraway, who wrote The Companion Species Manifesto (2003) to describe and elucidate the mutually dependent relationships among human, nonhuman and more-than-human species, i.e. symbiotic relationships that have shaped human existence on planet Earth. Often, these relationships remain ignored, invisibilised or underappreciated. The term encompasses all fungal, floral and fauna species but also includes gut bacteria, fungi, viruses, and cyborgs  — ‘critters’ as the author calls them. Symbiotic relationships are important to recognise to overcome anthropocentrism – the view that considers humans more capable and in control over all other forms of life. It must be clarified that posthumanism also critiques what and who counts as ‘human’ and who is excluded from this term. The intention is to decentre a specific figure of the human (able-bodied, white, male, autonomous) from a position of authority and absolute representation of all humans.

Companion species appear as rogue agents or guides that permeate this site to confuse/collapse the boundaries/borders and encourage a way of thinking that navigates the complex configurations where humans are enmeshed in more-than-human worlds. Companion species may also include psychogeograhies, i.e. landscapes from the perspective of the interpersonal and interspecies relations they generate, or how military and technological agents, i.e software, surveillance systems and borders, shape our relationships and sense of belonging. It is futile to reconcile learning and living on a damaged planet without acknowledging multispecies and interspecies entanglement, especially as genocides and ecocides are carried out across the planet.