Inga Jackson

My project explores the cultural construction and pathologisation of 'weeds'. I am interested in what makes certain plants ‘weeds’; whether this is their unwillingness to be controlled, their ability to cultivate abandoned areas, or perceived lack of value. I conduct close readings of nineteenth-century gardening and household advice texts. There are variations in how these texts conceptualise ‘weeds’, which need unpicking within a particular cultural and political milieu. Writers often navigate complex and inconsistent relationships with ‘weeds’, nature and their garden. Rather than emphasising only processes of removal and eradication of ‘weeds’, I want to understand the varied and complex constructions of nuisance plants and attempts at ‘making use’ or ‘living with’ the unruly. I will also consider how the construction of 'weeds' unwantedness relates to ideas of exotic and ornamental plants within the context of the nineteenth century plant trade.

 
My project is funded by the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity. Before starting my PhD, I studied at Lancaster University, completing my undergraduate and master's degrees in Sociology. During this time, I became interested in the contributions of Sociology to researching climate change and the relationship between humans and ‘nature’. This has led me to be interested in the relationship between humans and plants, and in how weeds are defined and categorised by humans. My research seeks to bring my background in Sociology into conversation with historical research methods.