05/17/2026
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you are all invited to join us for a book event at the shop (92 pike st) for the recently released book, scapegoat: what the invasive species story gets wrong w author clare follmann on saturday, june 6 at 7:30pm:) scapegoat examines the intersection of capitalism and conservation policy through the lens of invasive species management. more info and book description below:
access info:
high filtration masks are required for this event and we'll also have some extras for those who need them! the lowest level of the shop, where the event will be held, is wheelchair accessible but the rest of the store is not. we'll have keys to a tenant bathroom on hand, which is up a flight of stairs/elevator and can be tight for some wheelchair users but there are more accessible bathrooms nearby that we can point people to.
book description:
A caste of plants and animals, vilified as "invasive species," are held up as a primary driver of habitat degradation, to be eradicated at any cost---an ethically questionable and often futile approach. But what is really driving the degradation of habitat? Recent developments in the study of ecology complicate this prevailing narrative. While some invasive species can cause great environmental damage, intervention efforts have frequently proved more harmful than helpful to their local ecosystems. Yet this outdated narrative persists in both public belief and conservation policy, distracting from and often even justifying a far greater threat to biodiversity: the global capitalist system that is destroying our planet.
Drawing on environmental science and semiotics, Scapegoat recounts how the use of biased rhetoric and inaccessible language has created support for a popular but misleading war of “native” against “invasive” that does nothing to address the root causes of biodiversity loss. Clare Follmann challenges the perceived wisdom on invasive species, posing moral and political questions that rethink our relationship with nature and each other in a rapidly changing world.
