Politics of extractivism, grassroot justice and crude

Abstract

ABSTRACT Oil evokes a range of emotions, from the promise of prosperity to the reality of environmental degradation and corporate greed. A growing number of graphic narratives (such as Gasoline Dreams) are exploring the ‘cruel optimism,’ to use Lauren Berlant’s term, of oil. Crude: A Memoir is one such graphic narrative that through the memories of Pablo Fajardo exposes the intricate networks of extraction, the paraphernalia of the corporation-state nexus, and the contradictions of petromodernity through the use of visual storytelling techniques such as point of view, focalisation, and colour palette. This graphic narrative solicits an empathetic response from its readers by revealing the ethical and affective aspects of this environmental disaster. Drawing insights from energy humanities and comics studies, this article, through the close reading of Crude: A Memoir, investigates the toxicities of oil-modernity, the role of state infrastructure, and the global matrixes of power. Put together, Crude performs a kind of grassroot justice in that the memoir names the abusers who seem to be immune to justice, shows the plight of the Indigenous ‘collateral damage’ and the environmental degradation that result when legal protections are not afforded to those most vulnerable (including human, plant, animal, water, and mineral entities).