A political epistemology for extinction studies? On the ideas of preservation and replenishment

• Published in: Cambridge Prisms: Extinction Vol. 3; p. e8
• Main Author: Parkhowell, Lindsay
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Cambridge University Press 2025
• Subjects: causes and consequences; colonization; culture; Diversity Loss; extinction; Human Factors; indigenous; Species Extinction; causes and consequences; extinction; colonization; culture; indigenous
• ISSN: 2755-0958; 2755-0958
• DOI: 10.1017/ext.2025.3

This perspective article takes up the challenge of articulating a political epistemology for extinction studies, centered around how both the systematic-scientific and mythopoetic traditions conceive of the idea of preservation. Political epistemology offers a solution to this for impasse because it asks the question of the social orientation or “end” of knowledge formations, thereby questioning what the larger goal of preservation might be. By focusing on the example of the thylacine, I outline one strand of what a political epistemology for contemporary justifications of preservation in the Museum might look like. Then I discuss how the mode of storytelling in extinction studies also conceives of preservation. Finally, I introduce the idea of replenishment as contrary to the preservation, focused on the cultural practices of Indigenous peoples in North East Arnhem Land, and ask whether new developments in the techno-scientific tradition will begin to turn to replenishment as well.