How Does the Glacier Speak?
Problematising ‘Listening’, Ecocentrism, and ‘Voice’ in a Rights of Nature Movement
Abstract
Snæfellsjökul fyrir forseta (SFF) is a Rights of Nature collective originally formed to nominate the glacier Snæfellsjökull as a candidate for Iceland’s 2024 presidential election. Here, we reflect on the experiences of listening, in particular to and with a glacier. Although concepts like ‘voices of nature’ seek to advocate an ecocentric mindset, they assert an implicit anthropocentrism in assuming that entities need to be like humans to be worth listening to. We acknowledge that a glacier does not ‘speak’ – but it does make sounds, and these sounds carry meanings if there are agents who listen and interpret.
Submitted: March 6, 2026 | Accepted: June 2, 2026 | Published Aug. 6, 2026 | Language: en
Keywords Listening • Artistic research • Pedagogy • Relationality • Collective • Care • Ecocentrism • Embodiment • Rights of nature • Ethics • Collaboration • Voice • Water bodies
Copyright © 2026 Angela Snæfellsjökuls Rawlings, Galadriel González Romero, Ole Martin Sandberg, Daria Testo, Randi W. Stebbins, Caitlin ffrench, Luis Rubio, Juan Camilo Román Estrada, Nicole Desautels, Cody Alexander Skahan. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.