기후위기 대응을 위한 탈식민주의적 대안: “현재주의(presentism)”를 넘어 “연결된 역사들(connected histories)”을 향해

초록

This paper discusses how a postcolonial perspective can offer new theoretical insights into addressing the climate crisis. The climate crisis, manifesting itself through physical changes such as global warming, extreme weather events, and rising sea levels, has a significant impact on the international community. Notably, many of the countries currently responsible for the majority of global carbon dioxide emissions are the same advanced capitalist economies that once engaged in colonial conquest. Therefore, the climate crisis needs to be discussed alongside the history of imperial colonial rule. To this end, the paper first explains the climate crisis and then examines the issues surrounding the current international response, which is predominantly led by advanced capitalist states in Europe. Through this examination, it highlights that commonly adopted approaches to the climate crisis within the international community are imbued with “presentism,” a view that the past is known from the perspective of the present. From a postcolonial viewpoint, these presentist responses overlook the history of colonial rule. The paper argues that this historical gap in the response of Western advanced capitalist countries to the climate crisis can be addressed through the postcolonial concept of “connected histories.” Connected histories aim to dismantle the Western-centric narrative of modernity that excludes the history of conquest and exploitation of colonized peoples. This study asserts that the effort to reveal the interactions between different historical experiences, reflecting the perspectives of various social groups, is crucial to complementing the presentist historical perspective inherent in current climate crisis responses.

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