Soil reading group -- on soil epistemologies/ (non)categorisation of soil
Soil can be seen as a three-dimensional living infrastructure, containing biological, mineral and organic compounds, entangled with life above ground (Salazar et al. 2022, p. 1). Soils are vital for sustaining most of life on earth, and yet they have been colonised and exploited (De la Bellacasa 2022, p. xiv). Largely due to human activities, today's global soil crisis sees a large part of soils degraded, depleted or contaminated, resulting in a "running out of topsoil" (Salazar et al. 2022, p. 3). Despite soil's importance to all life and the spiritual and cultural relations that humans have with it, this matter remains still "un-theorized" (Tironi et al. 2022, p. 19) in the social sciences and the humanities.
This is the third time we initiate a reading group on soils - it is open to everyone from any discipline (its totally ok to only come to one meeting).
We will meet on Friday 19.06.2026 at 13:30 at NORCE in meeting room F403 (building 3, floor 4). NORCE is located in forskningsparken, which you enter through the main entrance to access NORCE. Take up the staircase right opposite the hairdresser.
Readings: