Who owns the fungi: ethnography of mushroaming as a form of multispecies sociality

This dissertation thesis focuses on variations of “mushroaming” – it analyzes activities thatinvolve foraging, cultivating, and learning about mushrooms, and demonstrates their potentialfor extending theories and practices of commons (Bollier and Helfrich, 2021). The thesis drawsupon the concepts of commons that are not limited to economic governance, but enable also theanalysis of the potential of multispecies relations, affectivity, and responsibility for generatingnew approaches to the environment (Singh, 2017; Federici, 2012). Specifically, this thesisexamines how the state, civic associations, and individuals manage forest territories, howforaging and cultivation of edible mushrooms connect economic and biological growth, andhow are non-humans incorporated into social practices or representations. Research reveals thatvarious types of mushroaming enhance multispecies reciprocity, enable informal managementof natural resources, and participate in the integration of mushrooms into human collectives orcreate new representations of mushrooms in public debate. The thesis contributes to currentresearch programs that analyze economics (Tsing, 2015), multispecies relations (Haraway,2016), and interspecies care (Puig de la Bella Casa, 2017).