Essential Readings

ResourceSummarySource Type
Reo, N. J., & Ogden, L. A. (2018). Anishnaabe Aki: an indigenous perspective on the global threat of invasive speciesSustainability Science13(5), 1443-1452.The multiple ways Anishnaabe people think about invasive species provide alternatives to native–non-native binaries that dominate much of the scientific discourse about invasive species.journal article
Mastnak, T., Elyachar, J., & Boellstorff, T. (2014). Botanical decolonization: rethinking native plantsEnvironment and Planning D: Society and Space32(2), 363-380.The authors argue that planting and displanting humans and plants are elements of the same multispecies colonial endeavor. In contrast to those who equate native plant advocates with antiimmigrant nativism, they see native plant advocacy as part of a broad process of botanical decolonization.journal article
Warren, C. R. (2007). Perspectives on the alien ‘versus native’ species debate: a critique of concepts, language and practiceProgress in human geography31(4), 427-446This paper reviews the key criticisms of the native/alien construct, xenophobic associations, disjunct between promotion of a multicultural human society and the persecution of `foreign’ species. They advocate for an alternative framework based on a `damage criterion’ rather than arbitrary biogeographical origins.journal article

Mixed Media Projects & Presentations

Relevant Essays

Relevant Books

  • Kimmerer, R. (2013). Chapters “Skywoman Falling” and “In the Footsteps of Nanabozho: Becoming Indigenous to Place” in Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. Milkweed editions.
  • Hoffert, B. (2022). Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains. Ecco Press.
  • Hogan, L. (1999). Power. WW Norton & Company. (mention of kudzu)
  • Leopold, A. (1989). Chapter “Axe in Hand” in A Sand County almanac, and sketches here and there. Oxford University Press, USA.
  • Martin, L. J. (2022). Chapter “Mood of Wild America” in Wild by Design: The Rise of Ecological Restoration. Harvard University Press.
  • Marris, E. (2013). Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Oladipo, J. (2011). “Porphyrin Rings” in Deming, A. H., & Savoy, L. E. (Eds.). Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World. Milkweed Editions.
  • Orion, Tao (2015). Beyond the War on Invasive Species: A Permaculture Approach to Ecosystem Restoration. Chelsea Green Publishing.
  • Ozeki, R. (1999). My Year of Meats: A Novel. Penguin. (mention of kudzu)
  • Pearce, F. (2016). The New Wild: Why Invasive Species Will Be Nature’s Salvation. Beacon press.

Share a Just Language resource on our google form

See Just Language Resources others have submitted