Cover of book: Collecting Seeds, Assembling Worlds
Monograph Open Access Full access

Collecting Seeds, Assembling Worlds

An Inquiry into Agrobiodiversity Conservation Through the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
Authors:
Publisher:
 2026

Summary

How has the world lost three quarters of its crop diversity in less than a century? How does a collection of seeds frozen in the Arctic help face this loss and ensure future food security? And how can Indigenous knowledges and artistic interventions inspire modes of dealing with agrobiodiversity loss that respond to contemporary socio-ecological transformations with care rather than techno-salvationism? Franziska von Verschuer traces these questions from the world's stronghold against agrobiodiversity loss, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, to divergent worlds and modes of world-making it assembles along with seeds. This study shows that the future is more open than the popular story of the ›doomsday vault‹ suggests.



Bibliographic data

Edition
1/2026
Copyright Year
2026
ISBN-Print
978-3-8376-7811-6
ISBN-Online
978-3-8394-1259-6
Publisher
transcript, Bielefeld
Series
Science Studies
Volume
0
Language
German
Pages
301
Product Type
Monograph

Table of contents

ChapterPages
  1. FrontmatterPages 1 - 6 Download chapter (PDF)
  2. ContentsPages 7 - 8 Download chapter (PDF)
  3. IntroductionPages 9 - 28 Download chapter (PDF)
  4. 1. A Short History of Agrobiodiversity Loss and ConservationPages 29 - 70 Download chapter (PDF)
  5. 2. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault and Agrobiodiversity Conservation in Social- Scientific ResearchPages 71 - 94 Download chapter (PDF)
  6. 3. Exploring the Naturalcultural History and Politics of Svalbard and the Global Seed VaultPages 95 - 140 Download chapter (PDF)
  7. 4. Assembling World(ing)s of ConservationPages 141 - 200 Download chapter (PDF)
  8. 5. Conserving (Hi)Stories, Cultivating FuturesPages 201 - 250 Download chapter (PDF)
  9. 6. CodaPages 251 - 258 Download chapter (PDF)
  10. AcknowledgmentsPages 259 - 260 Download chapter (PDF)
  11. Index of AbbreviationsPages 261 - 262 Download chapter (PDF)
  12. ReferencesPages 263 - 300 Download chapter (PDF)

Similar publications

from the series "Science Studies"
Cover of book: Understanding Science with Large Language Models?
Edited Book Full access
Arno Simons, Adrian Wüthrich, Michael Zichert, Gerd Graßhoff
Understanding Science with Large Language Models?
Cover of book: The Order of People
Edited Book Full access
Nils Ellebrecht, Tino Plümecke, Isabelle Bartram, Veronika Lipphardt, Jenny Reardon, Andrea zur Nieden
The Order of People
Cover of book: The Making of Scientific Knowledge
Monograph Full access
Jana Thierfelder
The Making of Scientific Knowledge
Cover of book: Envisaging Dataist Modernity
Monograph Partial access
Nicolas Zehner
Envisaging Dataist Modernity
Cover of book: Emotional Drivers of Innovation
Monograph Full access
Franziska Sörgel
Emotional Drivers of Innovation