The Motherland of the Giant Hogweed

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DC Field	Value
dc.identifier	ECF_article_12672
dc.title	The Motherland of the Giant Hogweed. How Giant Hogweed Became a Botanical Symbol of Contemporary Russia
dc.contributor.author	Sinitsyna Anastasia
dc.publisher	Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Venice University Press, Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari
dc.type	Research Article
dc.language.iso	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/the-venice-journal-of-environmental-humanities/2023/1/the-motherland-of-the-giant-hogweed/
dc.description.abstract	Human intervention in ecosystems has led to the accelerated dissemination of species deemed ‘invasive’, often accompanied by a perception of inherent malevolence. In Russia, the rampant spread of the giant hogweed has emerged as one of the most debated ecological issues in recent decades. The giant hogweed (Heracleum), a herbaceous monocarpic plant first discovered in the Caucasus in 1944, now proliferates throughout the country, from Sochi to Yamal and from the Arctic to downtown Moscow. It is estimated that the giant hogweed occupies over 10% of continental Europe within Russia, with projections suggesting an increase to nearly 100% within the next 30 years. Frequently, the plant is likened to a botanical emblem of Russia or a symbol of Putin's regime, reflecting the social tensions that oscillate between apathy and antipathy toward the hogweed in media and activism spheres.
dc.relation.ispartof	Lagoonscapes
dc.relation.ispartof	Vol. 3 \| Issue 1 \| June 2023
dc.issued	2023-09-04
dc.dateAccepted	2023-07-06
dc.dateSubmitted	2023-03-31
dc.identifier.issn
dc.identifier.eissn	2785-2709
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.identifier.doi	10.30687/LGSP/2785-2709/2023/01/006
dc.peer-review	yes
dc.subject	Decolonial aesthetics
dc.subject	Ecocriticism
dc.subject	Ecological imperialism
dc.subject	Giant hogweed
dc.subject	Invasive species
dc.subject	Political ecology
dc.subject	Post-Soviet landscapes
dc.subject	Russia

Research Article
open access peer reviewed

How Giant Hogweed Became a Botanical Symbol of Contemporary Russia

Anastasia Sinitsyna Università Ca' Foscari Venezia

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abstract

Human intervention in ecosystems has led to the accelerated dissemination of species deemed ‘invasive’, often accompanied by a perception of inherent malevolence. In Russia, the rampant spread of the giant hogweed has emerged as one of the most debated ecological issues in recent decades. The giant hogweed (Heracleum), a herbaceous monocarpic plant first discovered in the Caucasus in 1944, now proliferates throughout the country, from Sochi to Yamal and from the Arctic to downtown Moscow. It is estimated that the giant hogweed occupies over 10% of continental Europe within Russia, with projections suggesting an increase to nearly 100% within the next 30 years. Frequently, the plant is likened to a botanical emblem of Russia or a symbol of Putin's regime, reflecting the social tensions that oscillate between apathy and antipathy toward the hogweed in media and activism spheres.

Published

Sept. 4, 2023

Accepted

July 6, 2023

Submitted

March 31, 2023

Language

Keywords: Russia • Invasive species • Giant hogweed • Political ecology • Decolonial aesthetics • Post-Soviet landscapes • Ecological imperialism • Ecocriticism

permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/LGSP/2785-2709/2023/01/006

Copyright: © 2023 Anastasia Sinitsyna. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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