Tsing’s argument that honing in on mushroom picking to expand our imagination and thought process on the rigid debate of jobs or the environment intrigued me. Usually, when I imagined the economic impact on ecological resources I think of forests and water supply. To appease the reader, Tsing nicely begins the chapter with a case study of lumber in Oregon. The industry’s decay usually demarks the end of the analysis yet Tsing argues the story only moves to the next chapter as the mushroom forging became an important economic and ecological mark. Two ideas, in particular, I found useful in exploring: precarity and assemblage.
“Precarity is the condition of being vulnerable to others (20).” This statement has ample support in a variety of fields. When one loses their employment, this represents a failure in the individual. When multiple loses employment, this represents a failure in the system. Why a failure? Employment is our status quo; our natural way of being is to work or at least that’s what our capitalistic society promotes. This is how we put our time to good use. A world without work is an “unplanned nature of time.” As Tsing acknowledges, this is freighting.
Assemblage, on the other hand, denotes a feeling of “togetherness.” Quite literally, in its definition and in its connotation. The word is a common phrase in the economy whether via assembly lines or assembly meetings. The creation of order out of disorder through community efforts is no doubt a staple in our society. Tsing acknowledges its usefulness in music and agriculture. Although I am curious how mushrooms fit into the overall picture, I am excited to continue Tsing’s work.