Turning in the graveyard: trees and the hybrid geographies of dwelling,monitoring and resistance in a Bristol cemetery

Abstract

This paper explores the historical development of a Victorian cemetery in Bristol - Arnos Vale - in order to discuss how the nonhuman agency of trees has been enrolled into particular networks of environmental change and conservation. We argue that trees have both acted as socialized actors in the narrative of the changing nature of Arnos Vale and contributed significantly to the relational agencies involved. Trees have thereby been implicated in processes of resistance at the site, particularly through their incorporation in practices of monitoring and surveillance. The changing tree presence at Arnos Vale has served to recontextualize and resignify the site, and the monitoring of trees has made this bricolage known, prompting the construction of a significant site of resistance where the privatization of public space has been contested.