Gibson, Diana2022-01-112022-01-112018Gibson, D. (2018). Rethinking medicinal plants and plant medicines. Anthropology Southern Africa, 41(1), 1�14. https://doi.org/10.1080/23323256.2017.14151542332-3264https://doi.org/10.1080/23323256.2017.1415154https://hdl.handle.net/10566/7073Because plants are perceived as sessile and immobile, they are often represented as objects or things in current literature. In this paper, I explore variations and shifts in research and literature since 2000 that reconsider the ways that plant-related ideas, expertise and practices intersect in multiple associations related to medicinal plants. I argue that, in their relationship with humans, plants have histories, are mobile and can also bring about political and other effects. I use ethnographic material from Namibia and the Western Cape of South Africa to review medicinal plants, by focusing on human-plant relations and the incorporation of plants as non-human subjects with non-intentional agency.enAgencyInterdisciplinaryKnowledgeMedicinal plantsNon-humanRethinking medicinal plants and plant medicinesArticle