Wetness in the grasslands by Gabrielle Fenton

I invite you to follow me as I inquire over the recent years’ drought(s) in Flanders. We will follow various leads that tell the story of this drought as it unfolds in the particular context of the dairy grasslands of the Scheldt’s estuary. Following Vaughn et al.’s call for ‘intersectional ecologies’, these various pathways will enable us to grasp pieces of - some of - the ways in which this drought gains materiality, is known and narrated and plays into local subjectivities. Moreover, the drought will offer a window to observe, grasp and question the 'wetness' of the dairy grasslands. Following Krause, we will not attempt to look at wetness within the frame of a binary opposition between the wet and the dry, but rather as a possibility that emerges within a “particular social, economic, and political arrangement” and “in relation to particular human activities and projects” (Krause, 2017:405-406).

POINT 1.

Changing wetness opens up a space for experimentation.

The way science – in research centres – 'knows' wetness (Vaughn et al.) may not however correspond to what happens in the grassland

Also speaks of the ‘clashing rythms’ mentioned by Krause? The rhythm of corn growing and those of the grasslands?

ð Point 2: Wetness gets told by narrating the soil structure (in terms of clay/sand/silt) and in terms of the type of grain structure. Farmers know about this by working on their land and working ‘with’ their crops, thereby noticing which of their plots are dry or wet. They may explain this by using their knowledge of the local geological history, thereby placing this wetness within 'Time'.

Some notes about wetness in the grasslands???

Take me back to the grasslands!!

Point 3.

Wetness in the grasslands cannot be considered without looking at questions of urbanisation and demographics, reminding us of the hydrosociality of water (Krause).

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