The Work That Plants Do

Whether driven by developments in plant science, bio-philosophy, or broader societal dynamics, plants have to respond to a litany of environmental, social, and economic challenges. This collection explores the `work' that plants do in contemporary capitalism, examining how vegetal life is enrolled in processes of value creation, social reproduction, and capital accumulation. Bringing together insights from geography, anthropology, and the environmental humanities, the contributors contend that attention to the diverse capacities and agencies of plants can both enrich understandings of capitalist economies, and also catalyze new forms of resistance to their logics.

Marion Ernwein is a lecturer in environmental geography at the Open University. She researches the changing place of plants in contemporary urbanism.

Franklin Ginn is a senior lecturer in cultural geography at the University of Bristol. He is author of Domestic wild: Memory, nature and gardening in suburbia, and co-editor of Environmental Humanities.

James Palmer is a lecturer in environmental governance at the University of Bristol. His research examines resource-making practices associated with new bioenergy economies and infrastructures.