Dissertation: Cartographies of roots Thomas (original) (raw)

This study uses oral history and auto-ethnography to collect thematic data on relationships and communication between plants and people in New Mexico, USA. Western and industrial cultures tend to be plant-blind, which is extremely dangerous in the wake of climate disruption and associated loss of biodiversity. This study works to collect and produce generative narratives of non-binary relationships between humans and plants that provide remedies for plant-blindness and hopeful connections between human and more- than-human worlds. Results indicated the existence of many positive relationships between plants and people in the Western world, and that these relationships develop through human-human communication, plant-human communication, place-making, and relation-making practices. Furthermore, results showed clearly how relationships between humans and plants are wrapped up in history, sense-of-place, family, and identity, positioning studies about plants as an extremely potent topic for ecocultural studies.