The Character of Territory

Robinson Crusoe’s Island and Indigenous Land Defenders as Political Myths

Bibliographic Data

ID17826414
AuthorsPaulina Ochoa Espejo (0000-0001-9539-584X, University of Virginia, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume13
Issue1
Pages42-60
Publication date2026-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDemocratic Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2332-8894 • E-ISSN: 2332-8908
PublisherBerghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1017/s2332889426000138
OpenAlexW7155778500
LanguageEN
References cited18

What stories might connect democracies to nonhumans and thus support the joint flourishing of humans and nonhumans? This paper examines stories where the territory is one of the main characters: Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe , Michel Tournier’s Friday , and stories told by activists in recent political movements for “The Defense of Water and Territory” in Latin America. Each of these rely on myths to send a political message, but the first two rely on a solitary hero who either conquers or protects the land, while the latter tell stories about becoming strong with others while respecting each one. By conveying a message of collaboration between humans and nonhumans according to democratic principles, they also seek to become new myths linking democracies to the nonhuman world

Flourishing · HERO · Indigenous · Mythology · Politics · Caribbean and African Literature and Culture · Spatial and Cultural Studies · Travel Writing and Literature

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