Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

Seeds in the Anthropocene: A Critical Lens on Ecology, Empire, and Epistemic Resistance

Mingyu WangUniversity of Edinburgh*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

In the Anthropocene, the global ecological crisis is not only environmental but also epistemological and political. This paper examines seeds as critical analytical sites where ecological disruption, colonial history, and knowledge contestation converge. Through historical and ethnographic examples, it traces the shifting meanings and functions of seeds—from ecological collaborators in multispecies networks to instruments of imperial extraction and capitalist commodification. The analysis reveals how modern seed regimes, shaped by genetic science and property law, have contributed to the erosion of agrobiodiversity and the enclosure of local knowledge systems. However, the paper also identifies a countercurrent: grassroots “reflective seed practices”—such as Indigenous stewardship and community seed saving—are challenging dominant regimes by reviving relational, situated, and non-commodified forms of knowledge and care. These practices are not romantic returns to the past but adaptive responses to planetary instability, grounded in performative and plural ecologies. The paper argues that seeds are not merely affected by the Anthropocene but illuminate its deepest structures. By reading seeds as agents of political economy and epistemic resistance, the study contributes to a rethinking of ecological futures beyond technoscientific fixes, emphasizing relational ethics, cognitive justice, and grassroots transformation.

Keywords: Anthropocene; seeds; epistemic resistance; agroecology; coloniality
Published: September 16, 2025
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2025.NE26982
Volume: CHR Vol.82
pp. 55-61
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