Abstract

In my paper, I address biodiversity and the biodiversity crisis as cultural phenomena. The diversity of life is disappearing not only in our landscapes, but also in our languages, images and dreams. After a brief introduction to the concepts of biodiversity and biodiversity crisis, I point out the difficulties of envisioning biodiversity and the biodiversity crisis culturally. Drawing on Dipesh Chakrabarty and Jedediah Purdy, I show that and how these difficulties are further exacerbated today by an outright denialism about the biodiversity crisis. Right-wing populist movements in particular deny the dependence of all human life on other-than-human life. Following Chakrabarty, I conclude by pleading for an ethic of respect to be cultivated and anchored in our ways of life in response to this denialism.