Author : Catherine Phillips
Publisher :
Page : 326 pages
File Size : 39,13 MB
Release : 2008
Category : Crops
ISBN :
Book Description
This dissertation is a study of contemporary seed saving practices and contexts, particularly within Canada. Canada's current seed system is increasingly characterised by industrialisation, commodification, and privatisation. Part of the domination of agro-food networks by multinational corporations, facilitated by governments, relies upon (and advances) the control of seeds and a drive to limit (or eliminate) seed saving practices through legislative and technological measures. Different seed networks offer differing possibilities for seeds, growers, eaters, and their relations. Which possibilities emerge and which are eliminated by particular seed networks, and whether these are possibilities that should be supported and expanded, are important questions not only for seed savers but also for society at large. Why do people (in Canada) continue to save seeds and what meanings do they attach to their practices? How is seed saving in Canada related to broader agrofood networks? What ideas and concepts help explain seed saving relations? These are the questions that orient this research. Methodologically, this research involved gathering first-hand accounts of seed savers in Canada through interviews and focus groups, participating in various seed saving practices and events, and reviewing relevant secondary literatures. Based on the research results, I use three inter-related themes (natures, technology, and politics) to structure the dissertation. Seed saving is valued in multiple and related ways, including (among other things) as a means to conserve biodiversity, re/embed technologies and economies in societal norms, ensure future food resources, re/value seeds (and other nonhumans) as living beings, build alternative networks and institutions, and allow emergence of different ethico-political relations. Seed saving is about more than whether a particular seed will survive another year. Seed saving offers ways of living that those who practice it (and/or benefit from it) value for reasons other those options presented in dominating agro-food networks. Through their stubborn insistences, their creativity, and their sensate inhabitations seed savers work with other humans and nonhumans to challenge dominating agro-food relations. Dis/engagements with the questions, challenges, and manifestations emerging with/in seed saving reflect and re/configure future possibilities of living well with/in our shared worlds.