Climate Rage

Abstract

“Climate Rage: Extractivism and Dispossession in The Olive Tree” is a video essay analyzing the film El Olivo (The Olive Tree, 2016) to explore anger as a response to ecological degradation. The video essay examines the anger of a young, female protagonist in response to the sale of her grandfather’s olive tree within the context of Spain’s ongoing economic and environmental crisis. The essay considers the impacts of environmental violence on human bodies, particularly women and marginalized groups, and emphasizes the interdependence of self and environment. Introducing the term “ecopathy” to refer to the awareness of being embedded in the environment and the range of emotions it evokes, the essay draws from the foundational work of Black feminist authors like Audre Lorde, who study rage as a transformative emotion and applies this methodology to environmental studies, embracing rage’s potential to mobilize communities and challenge the status quo.