IASC members at the Research Group Economy of the Commons at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg coordinated and facilitated publication of a new Symposium Issue on Seed Commons. Two years ago, we have written about the workshop on seed commons in Oldenburg that gave the impulse to this special issue. The special issue represents an important milestone for the RightSeeds project and towards the new commons.
Special issue on Seed Commons
The special issue explores the theory of commons and its usage to study, conceptualize and transform governance models for seed and plant varieties to counter ongoing trends. Case studies from the Global North and South exemplify relations between seed (varieties) and known commons categories like natural resource commons and stress the need to gain a deeper understanding of Seed Commons. The articles of the issue deal with the interaction of innovation, commons and its governance; expand analytical and theoretical foundations for studying knowledge commons; examine traditional seed systems and deal with the lack of comprehensive study of knowledge aspects regarding intellectual property over genetic information.
Lohnes, J.D. Regulating surplus: charity and the legal geographies of food waste enclosure. Agric Hum Values 38, 351–363 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10150-5
Martindale, L. ‘I will know it when I taste it’: trust, food materialities and social media in Chinese alternative food networks. Agric Hum Values 38, 365–380 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10155-0
Bitzer, V., Marazzi, A. Southern sustainability initiatives in agricultural value chains: a question of enhanced inclusiveness? The case of Trustea in India. Agric Hum Values 38, 381–395 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10151-4
Edwards, F. Overcoming the social stigma of consuming food waste by dining at the Open Table. Agric Hum Values 38, 397–409 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10176-9
Daum, T., Capezzone, F. & Birner, R. Using smartphone app collected data to explore the link between mechanization and intra-household allocation of time in Zambia. Agric Hum Values 38, 411–429 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10160-3
Rissing, A., Inwood, S. & Stengel, E. The invisible labor and multidimensional impacts of negotiating childcare on farms. Agric Hum Values 38, 431–447 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10162-1
Brock, C., Jackson-Smith, D., Culman, S. et al. Soil balancing within organic farming: negotiating meanings and boundaries in an alternative agricultural community of practice. Agric Hum Values 38, 449–465 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10165-y
Maurer, M. Chickens, weeds, and the production of green middle-class identity through urban agriculture in deindustrial Michigan, USA. Agric Hum Values 38, 467–479 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10174-x
Church, S.P., Floress, K.M., Ulrich-Schad, J.D. et al. How water quality improvement efforts influence urban–agricultural relationships. Agric Hum Values 38, 481–498 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10177-8
Sievers-Glotzbach, S., Christinck, A. Introduction to the symposium: seed as a commons—exploring innovative concepts and practices of governing seed and varieties. Agric Hum Values 38, 499–507 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10166-x
Sievers-Glotzbach, S., Euler, J., Frison, C. et al. Beyond the material: knowledge aspects in seed commoning. Agric Hum Values 38, 509–524 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10167-w
Beumer, K., Stemerding, D. & Swart, J.A.A. Innovation and the commons: lessons from the governance of genetic resources in potato breeding. Agric Hum Values 38, 525–539 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10169-8
Mazé, A., Calabuig Domenech, A. & Goldringer, I. Commoning the seeds: alternative models of collective action and open innovation within French peasant seed groups for recreating local knowledge commons. Agric Hum Values 38, 541–559 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10172-z
Rattunde, F., Weltzien, E., Sidibé, M. et al. Transforming a traditional commons-based seed system through collaborative networks of farmer seed-cooperatives and public breeding programs: the case of sorghum in Mali. Agric Hum Values 38, 561–578 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10170-1
Halewood, M., Bedmar Villanueva, A., Rasolojaona, J. et al. Enhancing farmers’ agency in the global crop commons through use of biocultural community protocols. Agric Hum Values 38, 579–594 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10164-z
Chaney, J.K. Craig B. Upright: Grocery activism: the radical history of food cooperatives in Minnesota. Agric Hum Values 38, 595–596 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10189-4
Heffernan, A. Carolyn Steel: Sitopia: how food can save the world. Agric Hum Values 38, 597–598 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-021-10198-x
Waters-Bayer, A. Camille Toulmin: Land, investment and migration: thirty-five years of village life in Mali. Agric Hum Values 38, 599–600 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-021-10201-5
Southard, E.M.L. Leah Penniman: Farming while Black: Soul Fire Farm’s practical guide to liberation on the land. Agric Hum Values 38, 601–602 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-021-10204-2
Books received. Agric Hum Values 38, 603–605 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-021-10211-3
About the Journal
Agriculture and Human Values is the journal of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society publishing interdisciplinary research that critically examines the values, relationships, conflicts, and contradictions within contemporary agricultural and food systems. The journal, like the society, is dedicated to an open and free discussion of the values that shape and the structures that underlie current and alternative visions of food and agricultural systems.
For more information on the special issue click here.
