Plants, Mobilities and Landscapes

Environmental Histories of Botanical Exchange

Bibliographic Data

ID5877643
AuthorsEric Pawson (0000-0002-3900-8750, University of Canterbury, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume2
Issue5
Pages1464-1477
Publication date2008-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeography Compass (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1749-8198 • E-ISSN: 1749-8198
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1749-8198.2008.00153.x
OpenAlexW2093458064
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited39

This article explores environmental histories of botanical transfers, drawing on the emerging literature of mobilities in social science and historical research about patterns of plant movement. It sees such movement as integral to the annexation of nature by culture that characterises modernity. Using the metaphor of the web, the multi-directional complexity of these flows is assessed, to counter the seductive thesis of European 'ecological imperialism'. In addition to the widely acknowledged role of institutions, such as botanic gardens, in assembling and disseminating plant materials in calculative ways, attention is also drawn to commercial linkages. Elements of the refashioned landscapes that resulted are identified: these reveal the tensions of order, mobility and hybridity that also characterise modernity

Geography · Hybridity · Metaphor · Mobilities · Modernity · Political science · Social science · Sociology · American Environmental and Regional History · Anthropology · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Law · Philosophy