mp via Nettime-tmp on Sun, 23 Jul 2023 19:08:35 +0200 (CEST)


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Re: <nettime> Bioregionalism 



On 7/21/23 17:19, Joseph Rabie wrote:



Le 21 juil. 2023 à 15:30, mp via Nettime-tmp
<nettime-tmp@mail.ljudmila.org> a écrit :

However, as per Montgomery, who calls it the most destructive
invention ever made, the plough is extractive and eventually the
soil dies. Then whoever was living on it go away.



I think that making the plough the "villain" is controversial.
It is indeed very controversial -- if you are a plough maker, or a petrochemical input maker (half of which runs away in the damaged/ploughed soil).
Do read Montgomery, listen to the regenerative agroecology movements, if you want to understand. This is not my argument, it is not my metaphor, but an idea and concept that is growing stronger and wider by the day.
However, it is not about making anything a "villain" ... Rather than wilfully villaining, it is about understanding the artefact and the embodied and potential knowledge that it carries, as well as the counter knowledge system that have arisen to bring back the soil and gut microbiomes in collective, good shape. See also: 

Alesina, A.; Giuliano, P.; Nunn, N. (2013). On the Origins of Gender
Roles: Women and the Plough. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 128(2),
469–530. doi:10.1093/qje/qjt005 / https://sci-hub.ee/10.1093/qje/qjt005
There is so much being said and done and our little exchange here is immaterial and irrelevant to those in the field and in action. You can believe them or not, you can call it controversial or believe in the positive actions of the plough, that is all fine, but the permaculture and regenerative agriculture movements exist and continue to grow and gain momentum. Now also in policy and even corporate space. 

The metaphor, "the plough, which rips open the skin of the earth", as
an act of violation, is not helpful. I have heard contra-arguments,
that the plough allows the earth to breath, materials and biological
matter to circulate, for the benefit of all. I am too ignorant of the
matter to vouch for that.
Not everyone can catch the same vibe, each to their own. As suggested above, do the research if you want to know and not remain ignorant. You can also get it robotsplained here: 

https://chat.openai.com/share/f5f51467-0a43-4c45-8f62-03a1838cdb50
The ecology and history is quite accessible. Lots of material. It is world wide movement with many facets turning on not turning the soil with a plough. 

Then, on civilisations, this just came:
"....This week, The Internationalist interviewed celebrated archaeologist David Wengrow on his book, /The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity/. 

David Wengrow is a British archaeologist and Professor of Comparative
Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
In this interview, Wengrow debunks Eurocentric notions of "civilisation", drawing from the findings of his book, and reflects on how archaeology and anthropology can help shape societies today. 

“/But then you look at the kinds of societies most often referred to by
historians as ‘civilizations’ and they are things like Imperial Rome, the Aztec or Inca Empires, or Ancient Egypt: basically, systems held together by violence, coercion, and almost invariably also the suppression of women. Actually, these societies invented far less than we think because we tend to be blinded by the pyramids and other great monuments. In fact, as we explore in the book, most of the important scientific achievements in areas like maritime navigation, mathematics, metallurgy, the use of plants for medicines and so on all pre-date kingdoms and empires by thousands of years./”..." 

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