Seedways : The circulation, control and care of plants in a warming world

This is a book about seeds. It revolves around questions of why and how seeds matter today, as in the past. The focus is on human-seed relationships, and how seeds and plants co-evolve with humans and other living beings. Human history is fundamentally a multispecies story, and seeds thus function as a lens to trace relations and interdependencies between humans and plants. Through seeds we explore the cultural and sensorial or affective connections between people, plants, and places. Seeds are often used as metaphors or tropes of possibilities, of hope and aspirations that are inherent, yet not fully realized, in the present. Engaging with seeds also brings us to critical political questions about control over the material basis of our existence, that is, the main food crops. Accelerating climate change, the expansion of monocultural plantations, loss of biodiversity, and ruthless extraction of natural resources all point to increasingly difficult times ahead. Collecting and saving seeds has become a global concern to help face the uncertain and troubled future.