Plants in Place: A Phenomenology of the Vegetal

Plants are not immobile but change through growth, spreading, and interactions with their environment. Plants in Place explores the relationship between plants and human places, focusing on phenomenology, plant-thinking, and the dynamic constitution of plant edges. It offers new ways to appreciate the complexity and vitality of vegetal life and how it can enhance our understanding and experience of place.

Format: Hardback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 26 December 2023
Publisher: Columbia University Press

Plants, often perceived as immobile, stand in stark contrast to humans and other animals. However, the vegetal realm encompasses a multitude of place-based transformations. Stems elongate upward, roots expand outward, fronds unfurl in response to sunlight, seeds traverse vast distances, and intricate connections with the surrounding world unfold. How do plants, as sessile, growing, decaying, and metamorphosing beings, shape the spaces they inhabit, and how are they shaped by these spaces? How do human places interact with those of plants—in the lived experiences of individuals, in the art of landscape painting, in cultivation and contemplation, in forests, fields, gardens, and cities?

Plants in Place is a collaborative exploration of vegetal phenomenology, drawing upon the work of Edward S. Casey and Michael Marder. It delves into both the microlevel, where the dynamic constitution of plant edges or a child's engagement with moss is studied, and the macrolevel, encompassing habitats that encompass the sociality of trees. This captivating portrayal of plants and their places offers readers fresh perspectives on the complexity and vitality of vegetal life. Riveting, vividly descriptive, and insightful, the book also demonstrates how the worlds of plants can enrich our understanding and experience of place more broadly.

Dimension: 216 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231213448