Botanical Objects and Risorgimento. The Politicisation of Nature in 19th Century Italy

Abstract

This article examines the role of botanical objects in the construction of Italian national identity during the nineteenth century. It particularly explores how naturalia – through their visual and literary representations – functioned as instruments of political and cultural mobilization. The dissemination of amateur practices of botanical collecting and herbarium-making fostered new forms of civic participation and subtle modes of dissent against prevailing models of belonging and citizenship. From a methodological standpoint, the study positions itself at the intersection of the material turn and the more recent eco-plant turn, integrating insights from cultural and environmental historiography to illuminate the political dimensions of nineteenth-century botanical culture.