Commoning social–ecological networks through the lens of relational ontologies and other economies: How ecologists can diversify their notions of human–non-human relationships

ASTEGIANO, JULIA; ANDRIEU, JIMENA; WAJNER, MATÍAS; MARQUEZ, VICTORIA; SAUR PALMIERI, VALENTINA; TORRICO CHALABE, JULIETA KARINA; MASSOL, FRANÇOIS; CALVIÑO, ANA; ZAMUDIO, FERNANDO

ADVANCES IN ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH

ELSEVIER ACADEMIC PRESS INC

Año: 2023

0065-2504

The study of social–ecological networks (SENs) has mainly approached nature througha modern and functional to capitalism conception, i.e. a matrix over which humansocieties develop. Such a conception (1) neglects interdependencies among humanand non-human entities and therefore between “culture” and “nature” reproduction,(2) assumes the existence of many cultures but only one nature, (3) understands nature asa pool of resources, goods or services that can be exploited, appropriated or enclosed,and (4) has been pointed out as one of the main causes of the current biodiversity crisis.Based on the work of sociologists and communitarian feminist scholars, here, we proposeto conceive a social–ecological system s (SES) as the common, i.e. systems that need to beproduced through communal political practices that consider human–non-humaninterdependencies. In this vein, we introduce two frameworks related with the productionof the common, relational ontologies and other economies, and present two examplesapplying them. One example helps rethinking the so-called “humans–wildlife conflicts”,by illustrating the emerging relational role of the “cabrero” (a livestock guardian dog) as a“mediator” of such conflicts, through the lens of ethnobiology. The other example ana-lyzes human and non-human co-production of SESs that produce (and are produced by)honey, honeybees and beekeepers’ Social and Solidarity economies. We think such per-spectives may diversify ecologists’ understanding on human–human and human–non-human relationships and thus ecologists’ ideas about the representation of SENs and thereproduction of SESs as the common.