Paper short abstract:

Through a study of Scandinavian policy documents on the invasive Pacific oyster (Magallana gigas), and with a special focus on ideas of place, belonging and movement, this paper explores how authorities navigate the tension between stopping an ecological threat and developing an economic resource.

Paper long abstract:

Invasive Alien Species represent a highly characteristic trait of the Anthropocene, namely the way different pieces of nature move and are moved from place to place and in relation to each other. A number of species defined as Invasive Aliens are harvested in areas where they are non-native. These species are both economically important and ecologically problematic at the same time, as well as being lively creatures in their own right, with their own ways of moving. In Europe, the Pacific oyster (Magallana/Crassostrea gigas) is one such species. Through a study of Scandinavian policy documents on the Pacific oyster and with a special focus on ideas of place, this paper explores how authorities navigate the tension between stopping an ecological threat and developing an economic resource. Since the status of the Pacific oyster changes from place to place, conceptions of place and belonging play an important part in this tension. They influence how the species is understood and valued, but also how the relation between the species and individuals of that species is conceived. Especially interesting is the concept of “merroir”. Merroir is for seafood what terroir is for wine - it describes the way in which the taste of the oyster is influenced by the locality where it grows. The concept of “merroir” challenges the idea that the species’ place of origin is more important than the origin of the individual, but also presents these individuals as “food”, rather than as living animals.

Paper short abstract:

Stories of invasive alien species display a wide spectrum of threats. This paper scrutinizes how the apprehension and management of invasive species works as an emotional arena, where actors from different cultural contexts create new, and occasionally, surprising affective alliances.

Paper long abstract:

Stories of invasive alien species are in a fundamental way stories about the relations between culture and nature and about temporal and spatial definitions of belonging. In last decades, these stories have mainly been told by voices full of fear, anxiety, distress and anger, describing a spectrum of threats related to invasive species.

This paper will scrutinize how this spectrum of threats are linked to, and ties together existential questions, scientific knowledge, aesthetic domains, and popular mythologies. We will approach the subject matter of invasive alien species as an emotional nexus, where actors from different cultural contexts create new, and occasionally, surprising affective alliances. The engagement in invasive alien species draw together UNESCOs work with sustainable development goals and biodiversity, with local engagements in traditional landscapes and heritage production, as well as individual’s combating plants like Japanese knotweed invading their home.

In conclusion, we will show how the apprehension and management of invasive species becomes an emotional arena for conflicts and negotiations concerning foundations of belonging, as well as the very realms of nature and culture.

Paper short abstract:

Japanese wireweed from the heart of the Atlantic break rules and land borders, and is considered as a potentially foreign threat in Sweden. By examining narratives that frame the invasive and rule-breaking seaweed practices, my contribution aims to shed light on invasiveness as a cultural concept.

Paper long abstract:

“Sargasso is a place forgotten by the winds. Under the rarely cloudy sky, it´s water becomes hot and heavy with salt. Strange things happen to the animals that have taken a ride on the Japanese wireweed into a new areas.”

(Carson 1959)

The Swedish edition of Carson's book contains descriptions and illustrations of the Japanese wireweed. The floating seaweed lives attached to the cliffs along the coasts of the Caribbean and Florida. When storms during the hurricane periods wear away the seaweed, it is picked up by the Gulf Stream and drifts north. The drifting seaweed is presented in Carson's book as something of an old mystery.

There are various explanations and narratives related to how the Sargasso Sea got it´s driving seaweed. Japanese wireweed, Sargassum muticum, is originally believed to come from Japan, and accompanied an oyster export to France in the 1970s. By 2020, Japanese wireweed has the status of an alien and potentially invasive species in Sweden. As a self-fertilizer, a plant may be sufficient to form new stands. The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management describes the algae as perennial and believes that it has a strategy “where it both stays and moves”.

The seaweed from the heart of the Atlantic continues to break rules and land borders, and is today considered as a potentially foreign threat in Sweden. By examining the different narratives that frame the seaweed's invasive and rule-breaking practices, my contribution aims to shed light on invasiveness as a complex cultural concept.

Paper short abstract:

Many vigorous varieties of garden plants have a long history in cultivation, but are today seen as potentially invasive. In this presentation we will discuss how gardeners today need to navigate and manage risks and values connected to heritageness on the one hand and invasiveness on the other.

Paper long abstract:

Gardeners have always used plants of different origins, moving them around to new environments, working hard to make the plants survive and thrive under new conditions. In gardens, vitality is often regarded as an asset and a reason to cultivate certain plants. Many varieties that have spread over centuries are today regarded as ‘belonging’, as more or less ‘natural’, and even as heritage plants. However, while vitality and spreading can be seen as favourable, it can also turn into a problem, when plants spread too much, not least under changing conditions. Gardeners, and the circulation of garden plants, have been blamed for not taking adequate responsibility for the effects of unintentional spreading.

This paper is based on ongoing research on the intersection between gardens, markets and heritage in Sweden. Through interviews with gardeners and professionals, field observations and document studies we have found that boundaries between desired and despised are constantly transgressed; some garden plants are in fact regarded simultaneously as heritage and as invasive. We want to highlight how gardening and garden plants balance between heritageness and invasiveness. In the context of gardening it is obvious that everything is changing, and shifting ideals are continuously affecting the boundaries between garden and surrounding environment. This points to the need for knowledge about how to manage and co-exist with such plants. Considering the potentials and risks of gardening for a sustainable future, plant vitality is indeed an example of the difficulties implied in cultivating and at the same time protecting ‘nature’.