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Paper short abstract

hrough a multi-sited ethnography, I will contribute to the theoretical and practical understanding of a seed commons. This research project explores seeds as sites of epistemic reclamation by local and indigenous communities and as sites of generative dissent (Hernandez Vidal and Moore, 2022).

Paper long abstract

Seed enclosures, driven by intellectual property regimes, legal frameworks and the monopoly of industrial agriculture, have led to the rise in seed activism and the growing call for seed sovereignty. In working towards seed sovereignty, practitioners have been establishing seed commons. Associated with a critique of the commodification and enclosure of plant genetic resources and the governance of knowledge surrounding seeds, seed activists use the language of the commons, but there remains a lack of consensus on how to enact a seed commons, especially regarding ownership, management, and accessibility. How do indigenous and local communities use seeds to resist colonial erasure, past and present? How do seeds hold the power to bring forth unanticipated and negated futures? How do seeds defy commons categories? Through a multi-sited ethnography, I will contribute to the theoretical and practical understanding of a seed commons. This research project explores seeds as sites of epistemic reclamation by local and indigenous communities and as sites of generative dissent (Hernandez Vidal and Moore, 2022).