Fertile Figurations by Frances E. Dolan

Frances E. Dolan (University of California at Davis) discusses four figurations linked to soil health in early modern England and Colonial America: the mouth, the assemblage, the plow, and the community/network, exploring how each figure informs soil amendment practices in a different way and opens up a distinct relation between soil amendment then and now (encouraging soil regeneration, building bridges between past and present, impeding regenerative agriculture, or marking a rift between early modern and recent knowledges).
This talk was presented as part of the Fertile Furrows conference which took place 27-28 June 2023.