En-Listing Life: Red is the Color of the Threatened Species List

Abstract

The idea that every species should be assessed, ranked, and listed according to its projected risk of extinction is now a commonly accepted practice in conservation. Threatened species lists rank species in a linear progression from the least to the most endangered. This chapter explores the biopolitical nature of such lists. It shows how listing threatened species becomes a way to affirm — and justify — that life which is more and most important to save. The chapter argues that threatened species lists reinforce biopolitical differentiation not only between perceivably distinct nonhuman species but also between Homo sapiens and nonhuman species.