Foraging in the UK: A critical posthuman study of contested knowledges and practices

King, Lauren 2025. Foraging in the UK: A critical posthuman study of contested knowledges and practices. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This thesis explores why foraging is a contested practice in the UK, and what this shows us about the different ways stakeholders in this debate relate to the more-than-human world. Bringing together assemblage approaches alongside critical posthumanism, I examine the material and relational forces, both human and nonhuman, that coordinate in the space of foraging to make it contested. I bring in knowledge practices and values as key forces that underlie how stakeholders respond to foraging and foraging debates. I also bring in the multitude of competing and conflicting responsibilities that individuals might experience and be affected by in the context of foraging as a contested practice. In this way, this thesis contributes to a wider literature on controversy and contestations, especially to do with land management and conservation. My research design is influenced by multispecies ethnography (Kirksey and Helmreich 2010), and draws on mixed methods. I combine online research, walking interviews, virtual (Zoom) interviews, case study species, and autoethnography, to create a rich account of situations in which foraging can be considered a contested practice, also providing examples of best practice foraging and how it is monitored and regulated. Using ‘thick description’ (Geertz 1973), I tell stories of my research encounters, based around the seasons, including nonhuman agencies at the forefront of my analysis. Having analysed the different forces that come together to make foraging a contested practice, I look for the threats and opportunities that are associated with this practice. I look at the risks of the rise of interest in foraging, while also suggesting ways that foraging could be synergetic with conservation and land management strategies. I make use of critical posthuman theory, in particular drawing on the work of Puig de la Bellacasa (2010, 2017), to explore how foraging can contribute to a ‘naturecultural’ awareness (Puig de la Bellacasa 2010, p. 161) and a land management ethos that promotes habitat protection, biodiversity, and access.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > Geography and Planning (GEOPL)
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Foraging Contested practice Critical Posthumanism Multi-species ethnography Alterbiopolitics Knowledge practices Care
Funders:	ESRC
Last Modified:	01 May 2025 15:11
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/177969

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