Amaranth as political agent
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Authors
Author (Corporation)
Publication date
16.03.2025
Type of student thesis
Course of study
Collections
Type
04A - Book part
Editor (Corporation)
Supervisor
Parent work
Unter Pflanzen
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
Link
Series
Series number
Volume
Issue / Number
Pages / Duration
126-133
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
Museum Sinclair-Haus
Place of publication / Event location
Bad Homburg
Edition
Version
Programming language
Assignee
Practice partner / Client
Abstract
This text explores amaranth as a political agent through an artistic and research-based engagement with the plant across diverse geographies and cultural contexts. Drawing on long-term fieldwork, personal observation, interviews, and historical research, it traces amaranth’s trajectory from a sacred, nutritious crop in ancestral Indigenous communities to its current status as a herbicide-resistant weed in transgenic agricultural systems. The project situates amaranth within the expansion of genetically modified soy agriculture in Argentina, highlighting its genetic variability, resilience, and capacity to disrupt agro-industrial monocultures. At the same time, it examines the plant’s persistence in Indigenous rituals, agroecological practices, and popular knowledge, revealing multispecies resistance that extends beyond purely economic or scientific frameworks. The essay proposes amaranth as an active participant in political, ecological, and cultural struggles, challenging anthropocentric perspectives and dominant models of extractivist agriculture.
Keywords
Amaranth, Plant agency, Transgenic agriculture, Agroecology, Multispecies politics
Subject (DDC)
Event
Exhibition start date
Exhibition end date
Conference start date
Conference end date
Date of the last check
ISBN
978-3-945674-15-4
ISSN
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
New Work
Publication status
Published
Review
Expert editing/editorial review
Open access category
Green
License
Citation
Mensch, J. (2025). Amaranth as political agent. In Y. Volkart Schmidt & K. Meyer (Eds.), Unter Pflanzen (pp. 126–133). Museum Sinclair-Haus. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18029968