post-ecological
|post-e-co-lo-gi-cal|
🇺🇸
/poʊst ˌiːkəˈlɑːdʒɪkəl/
🇬🇧
/pəʊst ˌiːkəˈlɒdʒɪkəl/
after ecology / beyond ecological thinking
Etymology
'post-ecological' originates from English by combining the prefix 'post-' (from Latin 'post', meaning 'after') with 'ecological' (from 'ecology', ultimately from Greek 'oikos' meaning 'house' or 'habitat' and '-logia' meaning 'study').
'post-' entered English as a productive prefix from Latin in the modern period; 'ecology' was coined in the 19th century (German/Modern Latin from Greek 'oikos' + 'logia'); the compound 'post-ecological' is a recent formation (late 20th–21st century) used in academic and cultural discourse.
Initially, 'post-' simply indicated temporal succession ('after') and 'ecological' referred to the study of organisms and their environments; combined in contemporary usage the term has taken on conceptual senses of 'beyond,' 'after the age of,' or 'in response to the breakdown of' ecological frameworks.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
relating to an approach, discourse, or movement that comes after, moves beyond, or deliberately abandons mainstream ecological thought or environmentalism; often used in cultural theory, architecture, and the humanities to describe reframings of environmental issues.
Many contemporary artists adopt a post-ecological perspective that questions traditional environmental narratives.
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Adjective 2
describing conditions, policies, or practices in a hypothetical or actual era following severe ecological degradation or collapse — i.e., 'after ecology' in the sense of a world where ecological systems have been fundamentally altered or diminished.
The novel depicts a post-ecological metropolis where natural ecosystems have almost disappeared.
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Adjective 3
an aesthetic or rhetorical stance that uses motifs of abandonment, techno-optimism, adaptation, or resignation in response to ecological limits; used in design, literature, and speculative thought to signal a shift in how nature and environment are represented.
The exhibition's post-ecological installations mix artificial ecosystems and reclaimed materials to imagine new relations to the environment.
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Last updated: 2025/08/13 23:13