Geographies of mobility and belonging: critical plant studies and hopeful worldviews

Abstract

This paper makes a case for the miraculous nature of vegetal life and subverts the cultural failings of western civilization that have omitted ecological literacy and replaced it with ecosystem manipulation. Through examining the resiliency, adaptability, and mobility of plants, this thesis proposes a reconsideration of the idea of vegetal life being 'rooted' or immobile by choosing a posthuman lens that challenges the linear, human-scaled time and the Cartesian split of mind and body. Through my research on textile technology and my conviction for mutualistic co-species relationships, I explore opportunities for humans to use the implicit structure of capitalism with a methodology that is regenerative for landscapes and supportive of diverse vegetal life. These market-based solutions allow for positive material relationships with all aspects of an ecosystem.