Requiem for the weeds: Reflections in Amsterdam city park

Helen Kopnina*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Human and plant relationships are described within the rich tradition of multispecies ethnography, ethnobotany, and political ecology. In theorizing this relationship, the issues of functionalism, and interconnectivity are raised. This article aims to re-examine the position of plants in the context of contemporary urban spaces through the prism of environmental ethics. Despite conceptual plurality and socio-cultural complexity of human-plant relationships, social scientists fail to note how the perception of 'greenery' has objectified plants in urban environment. Without seriously considering bioethics, theories of human-plant relationship might fail to note exploitive anthropocentric relationship between humans and plants in urban spaces. The article is inspired by reflections of urban flora in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)10-14
Number of pages5
JournalSustainable Cities and Society
Volume9
Early online date14 Feb 2013
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bioethics
  • Environmental ethics
  • Ethnobotany
  • Plants
  • Urban spaces

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Requiem for the weeds: Reflections in Amsterdam city park'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this