Sticky lives: slugs, detachment and more‐than‐human ethics in the garden

Abstract

In response to the pressing need to re‐constitute the ways we live with non‐humans, more‐than‐human geography's distinctive contribution has been to describe an ethics based not on ‘certain subjects’ but on the relational entanglement of life: to show that ‘we’ are connected and thus invited to care. This paper aims to suggest, however, that this relational diagnostic obscures as much as it reveals and that detachment, as much as relation, provides an everyday ethic that can accommodate more‐than‐human difference. I do this by analysing how life is stuck together and pulled apart in the British domestic garden, drawing on life history interviews and ‘show me your garden’ walking tours with experienced gardeners. The article is aligned with a widening bestiary of companion species in geography, and considers the appearances and disappearances of a domestic monster: the slug. Therefore in contrast to existing literature the paper explores gardening's darker aspects. First, I describe how slugs and gardeners are ‘sticky’: joined together by shared histories, curiosity and disgust. The paper then shifts to examine how gardeners practice detachment: distancing themselves from the act of killing slugs but yet avowing the violence of their actions; acknowledging the limits of their capacities to bend space to their will and imagination; recognising the vulnerability of slugs, and being transformed by that recognition. The analysis shows first, that the emphasis on gathering together and relationality obscures what lies outside relations, and second how detachment emerges not as the negation, but as an enabling constituent of more‐than‐human ethics. In conclusion the paper argues for looser mappings of relationality and ethics that attend more fully to the distance between species.

The spaces and times of community farming

“…Preparing ground, planting, weeding and harvesting take time; time that could be devoted to other things but which-across all our case studies-is intentionally used for farming and gardening. This process of ''slowing down'' not only provides opportunity for discussion, but also for observation and contemplation of human and natural worlds (Ginn 2014). While not so apparent in the Chinese cases, it is still there-tales of ''natural'' work being fulfilling enough to give up paid employment, for example.…”

Organizing space and time through relational human–animal boundary work: Exclusion, invitation and disturbance

“…while not downplaying relationally-given differences, detachments (Ginn, 2014) and boundaries (Bear and Eden, 2008).…”

Killing squirrels: Exploring motivations and practices of lethal wildlife management

“…Scholars have also, therefore, begun to examine the potential significance of 49 detachments and 'non-relation' between killer and killed (Ginn, 2014). 50…”

“…460 'Dispatching' hints that the relation of killer to killed, in reparative/sacrificial mode, is 461 not necessarily one of vitriol, retribution, or even justice. Rather, it can be interpreted 462 as simply a desire to make grey squirrels absent (Ginn, 2014) Bark-stripping therefore has consequences beyond simple economic loss; it can also 494 affect woodland composition, because (a) cumulative damage stunts tree growth and 495 reduces canopy height and (b) growing hardwoods is a significant investment, and 496 uncertain economic returns mean that some ageing plantations are not being 497 replaced. 498 broadleaved woodlands will not flourish long-term.…”