Mycelium Law

Abstract

This text imagines the law as a rhizome, and performs the law as rhizome by combining strands of thought that connect but also allow spaces of disconnection. The text draws parallels between the law on the one hand, and the mycelium network on the other, focussing on the multiplicity of extensions that open a space of innumerable encounters. The analysis revolves around the Australian case Munkara v Santos where the movements of aboriginal spirits on land and underwater are taken into consideration. Through a critique of the decision, I argue that law can and is potentially mycelial, both textually and materially. This, however, is not without its problems. The law often forgets the need to encounter others in their own language, and to place the wider mycelial interests in the core of its actions.