The Seeds of Vandana Shiva: Story, Politics, Life and the Ravages of Biotech

In view of the questions and observations raised by the life of Gandhian eco-activist Dr Vandana Shiva, this screening and discussion shares reflections on the historiographies, cultural conditions of possibility, and ecosophical precepts of ecofeminist movement. The Seeds of Vandana Shiva (2022) stories the layered interfaces of kinship, knowledge, and activism, in relation to the rhizomatic, developmentalist penetration of biotechnological capitalism. The film as a site of engagement with Shiva's ecofeminist work opens up analysis of resistance (from the Chipko movement to farmers protesting biotechnological domination), epistemology and research (from submerged perspectives to global institutional knowledges), and the role of media and mediatisation in the politics of earthly survival, including in the form of the film itself.