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The Less Selfish GeneForest Altruism, Neoliberalism, and the Tree of Life

The Less Selfish GeneForest Altruism, Neoliberalism, and the Tree of Life Why have millions of readers and viewers become magnetized by the hitherto arcane field of plant communication? The article argues that the contemporary appeal of plant communication is rooted in a quest for alternative modes of being to neoliberalism, modes more accommodating of the coexistence of cooperation and competition in human and more-than-human communities. This ascendant understanding of plant communication and forest dynamics offers a counternarrative of flourishing, a model of what George Monbiot has called, in another context, “private sufficiency and public wealth.” http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Environmental Humanities Duke University Press

The Less Selfish GeneForest Altruism, Neoliberalism, and the Tree of Life

Nixon, Rob
Environmental Humanities , Volume 13 (2) – Nov 1, 2021
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24 pages

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Copyright
© 2021 Rob Nixon
ISSN
2201-1919
eISSN
2201-1919
DOI
10.1215/22011919-9320189
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Why have millions of readers and viewers become magnetized by the hitherto arcane field of plant communication? The article argues that the contemporary appeal of plant communication is rooted in a quest for alternative modes of being to neoliberalism, modes more accommodating of the coexistence of cooperation and competition in human and more-than-human communities. This ascendant understanding of plant communication and forest dynamics offers a counternarrative of flourishing, a model of what George Monbiot has called, in another context, “private sufficiency and public wealth.”

Journal

Environmental Humanities – Duke University Press

Published: Nov 1, 2021

References

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    Amend, Alex
  • Lyme Disease and the Passenger Pigeon?
    Blockstein, David E.
  • Anatomy of a Selfish Genius
    Brown, Andrew
  • Friedrich Hayek and His Visits to Chile
    Caldwell, Bruce Montes, Leonidas
  • Lightness
    Calvino, Italo Brock, Geoffrey
  • Uprooting the Tree of Life
    Doolittle, Ford W.
  • Plants Talk to Each Other Using an Internet of Fungus
    Fleming, Nic
  • Building the Biosphere: The Hidden Traits That Have Shaped Earth’s Land Ecosystems
    Hedin, Lars
  • The Social Life of Forests
    Jabr, Ferris
  • What Does the Passenger Pigeon Have to Do with Lyme Disease?
    Johnson, Michelle
  • Forest for the Trees: Spirit, Psychedelic Science, and the Politics of Ecologizing Thought as a Planetary Ethics
    Kohn, Eduardo
  • Gut Buddies Multispecies Studies and the Microbiome
    Lorimer, Jamie
  • Evolutionary History Resolves Global Organization of Root Functional Traits
    Ma, Zeqing Guo, Dali Xu, Xingliang Lu, Mingzhen Bardgett, Richard D. Eissenstat, David M. McCormack, M. Luke Hedin, Lars O.
  • German Forest Ranger Finds That Trees Have Social Networks, Too
    McGrane, Sally
  • Neoliberalism: The Idea That Swallowed the World
    Metcalf, Stephen
  • Against the Grain: There Are Questions That Science Cannot Answer
    Midgley, Mary
  • Hobbes’s Leviathan, Part 3: What is Selfishness?
    Midgley, Mary
  • Defining the Organism in the Welfare State: The Politics of Individuality in American Culture, 1890–1950
    Mitman, Gregg
  • For the Sake of Life on Earth, We Must Put a Limit on Wealth
    Monbiot, George
  • How Do We Get Out of This Mess?
    Monbiot, George
  • Plant Resistance against Herbivory
    Mortenson, Brent
  • The Anthropocene: The Promise and Pitfalls of an Epochal Idea
    Nixon, Rob
  • Neoliberalism, Genre, and ‘The Tragedy of the Commons.’
    Nixon, Rob
  • What the Trees Say
    Pakenham, Thomas
  • The Intelligent Plant
    Pollan, Michael
  • India Is Colonising Itself
    Roy, Arundhati
  • How Trees Talk to Each Other
    Simard, Suzanne
  • The Anthropocene: Are Humans Now Overwhelming the Great Forces of Nature?
    Steffen, Will Crutzen, Paul J. McNeill, John R.
  • No Such Thing as Society
    Thatcher, Margaret
  • Nitrogen Fixation in a Landrace of Maize Is Supported by a Mucilage-Associated Diazotrophic Microbiota
    Van Deynze, Allen Zamora, Pablo Delaux, Pierre-Marc Heitmann, Cristobal Jayaraman, Dhileepkumar Rajasekar, Shanmugam Graham, Danielle, et al
  • Finding the Mother Tree. An Interview with Suzanne Simard
    Vaughan-Lee, Emmanuel
  • Place as Person, Landscape as Identity: Ancestral Connection and Modern Legislation
    Warne, Kennedy
  • Davos 2020: Greta Demands Climate Action but Trump Blasts Pessimists—Day One as It Happened
    Wearden, Graeme Kollewe, Julia
  • Reviving the Superorganism
    Wilson, David Sloan Sober, Elliott
  • Rethinking Sources of Nitrogen to Cereal Crops
    Yan, Ming Pan, Genxing Lavallee, Jocelyn M. Conant, Richard T.
  • Blood and Vanishing Topsoil
    Amend, Alex
  • Lyme Disease and the Passenger Pigeon?
    Blockstein, David E.
  • Anatomy of a Selfish Genius
    Brown, Andrew
  • Friedrich Hayek and His Visits to Chile
    Caldwell, Bruce Montes, Leonidas
  • Lightness
    Calvino, Italo Brock, Geoffrey
  • Uprooting the Tree of Life
    Doolittle, Ford W.
  • Plants Talk to Each Other Using an Internet of Fungus
    Fleming, Nic
  • Building the Biosphere: The Hidden Traits That Have Shaped Earth’s Land Ecosystems
    Hedin, Lars
  • The Social Life of Forests
    Jabr, Ferris
  • What Does the Passenger Pigeon Have to Do with Lyme Disease?
    Johnson, Michelle
  • Forest for the Trees: Spirit, Psychedelic Science, and the Politics of Ecologizing Thought as a Planetary Ethics
    Kohn, Eduardo
  • Gut Buddies Multispecies Studies and the Microbiome
    Lorimer, Jamie
  • Evolutionary History Resolves Global Organization of Root Functional Traits
    Ma, Zeqing Guo, Dali Xu, Xingliang Lu, Mingzhen Bardgett, Richard D. Eissenstat, David M. McCormack, M. Luke Hedin, Lars O.
  • German Forest Ranger Finds That Trees Have Social Networks, Too
    McGrane, Sally
  • Neoliberalism: The Idea That Swallowed the World
    Metcalf, Stephen
  • Against the Grain: There Are Questions That Science Cannot Answer
    Midgley, Mary
  • Hobbes’s Leviathan, Part 3: What is Selfishness?
    Midgley, Mary
  • Defining the Organism in the Welfare State: The Politics of Individuality in American Culture, 1890–1950
    Mitman, Gregg
  • For the Sake of Life on Earth, We Must Put a Limit on Wealth
    Monbiot, George
  • How Do We Get Out of This Mess?
    Monbiot, George
  • Plant Resistance against Herbivory
    Mortenson, Brent
  • The Anthropocene: The Promise and Pitfalls of an Epochal Idea
    Nixon, Rob
  • Neoliberalism, Genre, and ‘The Tragedy of the Commons.’
    Nixon, Rob
  • What the Trees Say
    Pakenham, Thomas
  • The Intelligent Plant
    Pollan, Michael
  • India Is Colonising Itself
    Roy, Arundhati
  • How Trees Talk to Each Other
    Simard, Suzanne
  • The Anthropocene: Are Humans Now Overwhelming the Great Forces of Nature?
    Steffen, Will Crutzen, Paul J. McNeill, John R.
  • No Such Thing as Society
    Thatcher, Margaret
  • Nitrogen Fixation in a Landrace of Maize Is Supported by a Mucilage-Associated Diazotrophic Microbiota
    Van Deynze, Allen Zamora, Pablo Delaux, Pierre-Marc Heitmann, Cristobal Jayaraman, Dhileepkumar Rajasekar, Shanmugam Graham, Danielle, et al
  • Finding the Mother Tree. An Interview with Suzanne Simard
    Vaughan-Lee, Emmanuel
  • Place as Person, Landscape as Identity: Ancestral Connection and Modern Legislation
    Warne, Kennedy
  • Davos 2020: Greta Demands Climate Action but Trump Blasts Pessimists—Day One as It Happened
    Wearden, Graeme Kollewe, Julia
  • Reviving the Superorganism
    Wilson, David Sloan Sober, Elliott
  • Rethinking Sources of Nitrogen to Cereal Crops
    Yan, Ming Pan, Genxing Lavallee, Jocelyn M. Conant, Richard T.