Complexities of care in insect‐human relations

Abstract

What ethico‐politics are we complicit in when we eat insects? Or produce them for feed? In this article we think through underexplored ideas of human‐insect response‐abilities, or ‘care’ in the acts of ‘producing’ insects that are to be: eaten by humans or non‐humans; or, enrolled in eating other species for environmental ‘management’. Rather than merely passive recipients of human care, we think through insect agency to highlight the affective capacities of insects in acts of human to more‐than‐human reciprocal care. Drawing on a qualitative study of diverse insect‐work in Aotearoa New Zealand, we demonstrate how insects are recognised as active in their caregiving processes, and what this might mean for our right relations with insects.

Antipodean more‐than‐human geographies: From the edges

“…Another prevalent theme in current MTH discourse that arises in this Special Issue is an MTH ethics of care, where new value appears to manifest in spaces of affect and care for MTH others. We see this explicitly in papers by Yee and Sharp (2023) and by Goburdhone and Dombroski (2023), both of which reflect a care-full attention to the minutiae of actors' movements and/or relations through close affectively oriented engagement. This prompts us to ask whether it is possible to study the MTH at speed or from a distance.…”

Managing ubiquitous ‘forever chemicals’: More‐than‐human possibilities for the problem of PFAS

“…Managing PFAS from a detection and monitoring perspective requires attention to the more‐than‐human agency, relationality and materiality of PFAS. As a starting point, more‐than‐human thinking advocates extending rights, ethics and responsibilities to non‐human subjects (Yee & Sharp, 2023). This means that the production of scientific information must consider the impacts of, and on, the non‐human.…”

Coloniality and Indigenous ways of knowing at the edges: Emplacing Earth kin in conservation communities

“…Siimes (2023) even gives a human name and quality to his central subject, calling the fungal species Brettanomyces 'awkward Brett'. Yee and Sharp (2023) resist separating humans from non-humans entirely, instead writing of 'human-insect assemblages'. These (re)naming practices blur the lines drawn around humans, pulling certain Earth kin into community and simultaneously expanding community lines to encircle others.…”

“…Awkward Brett 'destroys everything' but also 'questions binaries and 'resists pacification' (Siimes, 2023). Bodies of water 'contest, create and rework' (Samuelson et al, 2023), as insects 'work' and do 'labour' in bioeconomies (Yee & Sharp, 2023). As Virens (2023) shows, weeds are hated community members by some and are pulled into caring relationships by others.…”

“…Samuelson et al (2023) refer to working with rivers, not on them. Yee and Sharp (2023) imply that treating insects as agents in a multispecies world will require changes in company practices, policies, and legal frameworks for insect welfare. It is when continuously performed relationships affect ethical imperatives that we see the communities expanding, pulling in more than just humans.…”