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Alien Plants between Practices and Representations: The Cases of European Spruce and Beach Rose in Finland
Full text linkIn Finland, the European spruce (Picea abies) and the beach rose (Rosa rugosa) have very different cultural resonances and ramifications, but they also have many similarities. In this study, we examine these species through the concept of ‘plantiness’ to reveal the political ecology behind the categories of native and alien, demonstrating the national and biological belonging of said species. We ask why people want to protect certain species and not others – which ultimately amounts to deciding which plants are permitted to exist and which are not. Acknowledging that natural changes occur constantly, we also ask how people come to decide what counts as the ‘status quo’ that should be protected. We create a synthesis from our disciplines: palaeoecology, which focuses on the ecology of the past; cultural history and ethnology, which explore historical and contemporary times; and linguistics, which focuses on a long time period from prehistoric to contemporary times
An Archaeology of Ruderal Futurism
Full text linkLanguage used to describe plant life and their environments is shaped by how plants are perceived. In turn this language reproduces how plants continue to be perceived and contributes to the further shaping of attitudes toward them. This essay presents the ruderal as a framework for understanding and envisioning being-with more-than-human others in a world altered by colonial and capitalist exploitation, extraction and expansion. Enacting an archaeological tracing of language and cultural thought towards ruderal plant species, consideration is given to: vernacular language applied to vegetal beings; identities of belonging applied to the movement of vegetation at a planetary scale; and decolonial modes of thinking-with and being-with vegetal others in the aftermath of colonialism and capitalism. Particular consideration here is given to the classification systems of botanist Albert Thellung, the thought of gardener and landscape architect Gilles Clément and the work of artist Andrea Callard. This paper extends an ongoing area of research I have previously examined in the curatorial research project Ruderal Futures (2022) for SixtyEight Art Institute and the essay ‘A brief constellation towards a ruderal futurism’ (2020)
Where on Earth are the Moon Trees?
Full text linkThis essay describes the history of ‘Moon Trees’ – trees that were grown from seeds that accompanied the NASA Apollo 14 mission to the Moon in 1971. During the mid-1970s, Moon Tree seedlings were planted in communities across the United States as part of the nation’s bicentennial celebration. Here, I discuss how Moon Trees became symbols of pride in the scientific and technological advancements in the United States, and the various ways in which they have impacted the communities in which they were planted. I also chart the current efforts (including my own journey) to document and to tell their stories, and the ways in which such efforts emerge from the interweaving of technology and personal and collective memories
Debilitating Domestic Duties: Precariousness of Female Waste Pickers in Indonesia
Full text linkGender differences in the work of female and male waste pickers have often been overlooked. In this article we want to show that for waste pickers in Indonesia there are remarkable similarities between female and male waste pickers. At first sight, there is practically no division of tasks between female and male waste pickers. Nevertheless, the domestic chores of women, gendered differences in stigmatisation, and possible societal expectations about the compatibility of waste picking with femininity do seriously hamper their work as waste pickers. A better understanding of how waste picking is done is important because the activity is one step in recycle chains in the Global South. The article also warns against the generic use of the term ‘waste picker’ without carefully distinguishing between their different roles in the municipal waste management assemblage
Anthropocene Ouroboros: Shimmying Plastics and the Contamination of Time
Full text linkThe ever-increasing abundance and expanding affordances of plastics have come to instantiate modernity through their successes and failures in usage and beyond. Materially, plastics have a capacity to stubbornly endure yet simultaneously to fracture. Grounded in ethnographic fieldwork on an Indian Ocean island, this article will explore the heritage of plastic objects in their shattering and dispersal. The novel presence and ubiquity of plastics have caused some scholars to propose that the presence of plastics could constitute a possible marker of the Anthropocene. Yet plastics won’t stay in their own epoch. Microplastics can migrate and infuse sedimentary layers from previous eras, shimmying down to earlier stratigraphic layers and complicating the very knowability of the past. This paper will look at the temporal vertiginousness of the current epoch through the recalcitrance of human-made materials, arguing that, even in their material remnants, plastics radically complicate the delineation and understanding of geological time
In pursuit of sustainability: The root cause of human population growth
Full text linkHuman population growth has been identified as the primary cause of ecologically destructive phenomena. The evidence clearly shows that global human population growth proceeds as a function of the increasing food supply. Understanding and appreciating this reality is posited as a first step in successfully addressing human population growth
The Impact of Immigration Policy on future US population size
Full text linkImmigration will be the key factor determining whether populations in the developed world increase or decrease over the coming century. New policy-based population projections illustrate this for the United States. Expansive immigration policies could increase the US population by hundreds of millions by 2100, while more restrictive policies could lead to population stabilisation or significant reductions. For the US, there is no plausible high-immigration path to a sustainable population. Because larger populations increase human environmental impacts, sustainability advocates in the US and other countries with high net immigration levels have strong prima facie reasons to support immigration reductions. Such reductions could achieve smaller populations in receiver countries and encourage smaller populations in sender countries, contributing to global ecological sustainability
Spatial and temporal abstraction, individual agency and aggregate trends in population dynamics
Full text linkChanging Perceptions of Barriers to Sustainability: Population, Consumerism and Power Politics
Full text linkThis paper examines shifting perceptions of the primary barriers to global sustainability, focusing on three key dimensions: population growth, consumerism and power politics. While population growth has historically been viewed as a critical threat, its actual impact is mediated by unequal patterns of production and consumption. Consumerism, driven by globalised capitalism, emerges as a more decisive factor, entrenched in unsustainable development models. However, the most pressing obstacle today is the rise of denialist power politics, exemplified by the rhetoric and actions of leaders like Donald Trump, which undermine multilateral agreements and environmental policies. Drawing on scientific data, historical analysis and geopolitical critique, the paper argues that avoiding socio-ecological collapse requires urgent systemic and cultural transformations. It concludes that the narrowing window for effective action demands radical innovations in global governance and redefinitions of progress beyond material growth