5/ Seeds that could not grow: Jeremy Bentham’s unrealized botanical utopias
di Henry JACOB
Diacronie. Studi di Storia Contemporanea, N. 54, 2|2023
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ABSTRACT | TESTO INTEGRALE | L’AUTORE | REFERENZE | LICENZE |
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“Henry William Pickersgill (1782–1875), Ritratto di Jeremy Bentham“. Olio su tela, 1829 by National Portrait Gallery: NPG 413 via Wikimedia Commons (Pubblico dominio)
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Italiano
L’articolo esamina le intersezioni tra gli interessi botanici di Jeremy Bentham e le sue utopie utilitaristiche su scala globale. Per decenni egli richiese ad amici, parenti e conoscenti di inviargli specie vegetali provenienti da paesi diversi ed è ben noto come Bentham legasse questo interesse ai suoi scopi riformisti. Così come Betham combinava nel proprio giardino specie diverse, allo stesso modo egli cercava di combinare ideali di governo in uso in Russia, America centrale, Africa e Australia. Secondo il filosofo questo programma avrebbe portato benefici all’ambiente e ai suoi abitanti. Al contempo, egli applicò questi modelli governativi ad aree geografiche di cui aveva poca, se non nessuna, conoscenza. In conclusione, nonostante le loro buone intenzioni, tali progetti fallirono. Sebbene Bentham fosse un buon collezionista e botanico, le sue idee di società non misero radici.
Parole chiave: canali, colonialismo di popolamento, Jeremy Bentham, orticoltura, storia ambientale globale.
English
This essay explores how Jeremy Bentham’s desire to obtain botanical specimens intersected with his designs for utilitarian utopias across the world. Over decades, the philosopher tasked family, friends, and acquaintances with mailing him horticultural samples from, and knowledge of, foreign lands. Notably, Bentham’s aspirations to curate gardens coalesced with his reformist goals. Just as Bentham intended to assemble seeds within his backyard, so did he seek to package governmental ideals within Russia, Central America, Africa, and Australia. Bentham sincerely believed that his programs would benefit environments and their inhabitants. Yet at the same time, he projected these universal ideals onto areas with little first-hand experience or deep understanding of local circumstances. Therefore, despite his benevolent intentions, these projects all failed. Even if Bentham mastered the art of botanical collecting, he planted the seeds of societies that could not grow.
Keywords: Canals, Global environmental history, Horticulture, Jeremy Bentham, Settler colonialism.
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Henry Jacob is an incoming History Ph.D. student at Yale. Currently, he is a Fulbright researcher in Panama City, Panama. During the 2021-2022 academic year, he was a Henry Fellow at the University of Cambridge, where he received an M.Phil. in World History. Jacob also received a B.A. in History from Yale in 2021. His research compares designs to create interoceanic shortcuts in the Arctic and the tropics.
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JACOB, Henry, «Seeds that could not grow: Jeremy Bentham’s unrealized botanical utopias», Diacronie. Studi di Storia Contemporanea, N. 54, 2|2023
URL: <http://www.studistorici.com/2023/06/29/jacob_numero_54/>
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«Seeds that could not grow: Jeremy Bentham’s unrealized botanical utopias» by Henry Jacob / Diacronie. Studi di Storia Contemporanea is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuzione – Condividi allo stesso modo 4.0 Unported.
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