Binomial naming, binary thinking
The long shadow of Linnaeus’ legacy, by Cel Robertson
Back in July, Alex Douziech, founder of the Center for Plants and Culture, put a post up on Instagram titled “Why Plants have Latin Names”. There followed something of a pile on from sections of the online botanical fraternity. There seemed to be those who wilfully misunderstood the intention of the post - a post which was an invitation to interrogate and critically analyse the biased origins of the Latin binomial classification and naming system devised by Linnaeus and with which we are familiar in Botany and the Natural Sciences. Such fearful and fragile reflexive responses to having our dominant systems put under scrutiny serves only to keep us from being able to look critically and questioningly at those systems.
We need to get better at being able to examine things that we might have held dear for a very long time. We need to get better at accepting there may not be any fast, easy, immediate or ideal answers but that this shouldn’t stop us from posing questions in the first place. And we need to get better at sitting with the fact that something can simultaneously have its positives and negatives - that something (such as Latin binomial nomenclature) can be useful and at the same time, also problematic. What did we say about letting go of our binary ways of thinking…? Systems, and people, are not either wholly “good” or “bad”. Things are not always “either/or”. They can be “yes/and”. If we are unable to hold such truths, how will we ever “decolonise”? How will we ever hope to break down the injustices in our systems with the aim of working towards justice and collective liberation?
I am re-purposing a piece by Cel Robertson of Forever Green Flower Co for this newsletter. It was first written last July.
It remains relevant and makes important points that still need to be heard. What gets left out of our history and conveniently ignored, matters. What and who we revere and put up on a pedestal matters (doing this at all is perhaps problematic in itself). These all contribute towards framing our view of the world and subsequently our attitudes and behaviour (as discussed in the newsletter on weeds a couple of weeks ago).
The long shadow of Linnaeus’ legacy, by Cel Robertson
I love Latin. I went to an all-girls state school where I was lucky enough to study Latin for two years [...]. I remember thinking at the time that this was probably a completely useless endeavour, but I enjoyed it nevertheless!
Fast forward a few years, and I'm studying at horticultural college using Latin every day. There I learn about Carl Linneaus, and his system of classification for every living thing on earth - biological taxonomy. The binomial system that I use every day in my work is Linneaus' living legacy and something I really admired him for; I love the organisational structure that brings order to such a vast subject.
But I am not taught the whole truth of Linneaus' biological taxonomy at college. I am not taught about the colonial bias applied to his hierarchical division of humanity - from light (white) to dark (black). I am not taught about his classification for the Khoi and San peoples of South Africa - Homo monstrosus monorchidei - not classified as human Homo sapiens, but separately as humans with 'monstrous features'. I am not taught that the new sciences of the 18th Century cemented the preceding religious ideas about white supremacy that justified slavery and the dehumanisation of black people. I am not taught, as a black woman, the whole truth of Linneaus' legacy; a legacy of structural racism rooted in 'science' that still persists now.
You'll have heard the phrase 'decolonise the garden' a lot recently. It's far too easy for educational institutions, especially in horticulture, to eliminate troublesome subjects from their teaching and to whitewash their history - and yes, I use the word 'whitewash' deliberately. To decolonise education is to teach the whole truth, not just the bits that show 'the best' of white colonialism. The huge gaps in knowledge and lack of understanding of our shared history are perpetuating the division and racism we as a society are living with today.
I have absolute respect and admiration for the order of Linneas' classification system, but perhaps now, with a little more knowledge, I'll reserve my reverence for someone who displays a little more humanity.
Cel waived her fee and donated this piece to Radicle.