Introduction: symbiosis as a living evolving critique

Adema, J and Woodbridge, P (2011) Introduction: symbiosis as a living evolving critique. In: Symbiosis: Ecologies, Assemblages and Evolution. Living Books About Life . Open Humanities Press. ISBN 978-1-60785-271-1

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Abstract

Different species, interacting in a symbiotic fashion, living together over a prolonged period of time, eventually co-evolving into new species: this vision of the biological phenomenon of symbiosis has created a strong impression—both of symbiosis as a metaphor and a material reality—of species in an intimate relationship together, cooperating in spite of differences, of becoming something else and transgressing boundaries. This idea has turned the concept of symbiosis, in its many guises and definitions, into a breeding ground for a posthuman, biologically and ecologically informed critique. Less focused on the biological process of symbiosis as such, our focus in Symbiosis: Ecologies, Assemblages and Evolution is more on how symbiosis can be used as a means to argue for an alternative worldview and even a better world....