The Tangled Roots of Family, Forest, and Farm

Eva-Lynn Jagoe
Additional contact information
Eva-Lynn Jagoe: University of Toronto

Journal of Ecohumanism, 2023, vol. 2, issue 1, 55-65

Abstract: When my family started stewarding eight acres in British Columbia, Canada, we encountered a pervasive pioneer species or “weed”—quackgrass—that grows long roots and chokes out other plants. This paper counterposes the behaviour of these competitive and embinding roots with the cooperative mutual interrelation of forest root systems. Using these two roots as metaphors for the pleasures and pitfalls of family, I make an argument for family farming that both honours and resists the tangle of rootedness that is embodied in the symbiotic relationship of mother and sons. I paint a picture of a political project of regeneration and flourishing that is founded on deep love and affinity for the land and for each other. While I critique the constraints of family, the mother-son relationship emerges in this essay as a historically embedded and potentially generative form of community.

Keywords: Family; farming; roots; forestry; agriculture; mothering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.tplondon.com/ecohumanism/article/view/2897/2088 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mig:ecohjl:v:2:y:2023:i:1:p:55-65

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://ecohumanism. ... ormation/librarians/

DOI: 10.33182/joe.v2i1.2897

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Ecohumanism is currently edited by Peggy Karpouzou and Nikoleta Zampaki

More articles in Journal of Ecohumanism from Transnational Press London, UK
Bibliographic data for series maintained by TPLondon ().