David Nally - Böcker

A fascinating examination of “tuberous associations”—the economies, politics, and ecologies enabled by human-tuber interactions  The world is much more tuberous than most people know. From the millions of smallholder peasants cultivating tuber plants to the teams of scientists mapping potato genomic information to the industrial manufacturers selecting the best varieties for producing French fries, life unfolds in a tuber-enabled environment. This book describes the many different forms of “tuberous association”—the patterns of production, kinship, collaboration, resistance, feeding, and care that arise from and are made possible by tuberous partnerships.  Tubers are vital partners, or allies, that support life within autonomous collectives and at the same time are entwined in the extractive practices of colonization, land enclosure, and plantation—facts that reveal the complexity and contingency of vegetal politics. To explore this complexity, the contributors to this book consider an array of tuberous bodies, such as cassava, taro, yam, potato, and sweet potato, to draw out the subtleties and textures of human-tuber companionship in all their startling diversity.  By considering tubers not only as a “product” or “staple,” but also as partners, kin, and ancestors—as lifeforms grafted to our own—the authors argue for a nuanced understanding of tuberous politics, economies, and ecologies.

"This ambitious volume reviews the best recent work in historical geography... It demonstrates how a dual sense of history and geography is necessary to understand such key areas of contemporary debate as the inter-relationship between class, race and gender; the character of nations and nationalism; the nature and challenges of urban life; the legacies of colonialism; and the meaning and values attributed to places, landscapes and environments." - Mike Heffernan, University of Nottingham Key Concepts in Historical Geography forms part of an innovative set of companion texts for the Human Geography sub-disciplines. Organized around 24 short essays, it provides a cutting edge introduction to the central concepts that define contemporary research in Historical Geography. Involving detailed and expansive discussions, the book includes:

An introductory chapter providing a succinct overview of the recent developments in the field 24 key concepts entries with comprehensive explanations, definitions and evolutions of the subject Pedagogic features that enhance understanding including a glossary, figures, diagrams and further reading

Key Concepts in Historical Geography is an ideal companion text for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students and covers the expected staples from the discipline - from people, space and place to colonialism and geopolitics - in an accessible style. Written by an internationally recognized set of authors, it is is an essential addition to any human geography student's library.