A decolonial ecofeminist critique of rewilding in the highlands of Scotland
Abstract
Rewilding is increasingly recognized as a promising strategy for habitat restoration and carbon sequestration, with initiatives rapidly developing in sparsely populated areas such as the Highlands of Scotland. Yet how rewilding intersects with land ownership and control, and the histories through which these sites came to be imagined as wilderness, is often sidelined in popular discourse. This paper outlines the decolonial ecofeminist lens I develop to examine this intersection, drawing together decolonial ecology and ecofeminist theory, and highlights how colonial, capitalist, and patriarchal relations and logics are reproduced through rewilding when questions of land ownership and control are sidelined.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Environmental Philosophy and Ethics
Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature
Geographies of human-animal interactions
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Space and Polity
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 168–173
- Publication date
- 26 February 2026
- Language
- EN