The Many Care Worlds a Butterfly Crosses

This study reveals the contrasting care practices for monarch butterflies, highlighting tensions between northern conservation efforts led by volunteers and southern approaches rooted in Indigenous and mestizo communities. The research demonstrates that while northern conservation relies on voluntary habitat creation and economic contributions, southern residents experience this as a top-down imposition, emphasizing forest relations instead. Through ethnographic data, the study explores how these differing care worlds intersect with colonial dynamics, illustrating distinct perceptions of urgency in conserving nature. It contributes to the 'one planet, many worlds' debate by examining how a disappearing butterfly confronts and constitutes different conservation ideologies.

González-Duarte, C. (2024). The Many Care Worlds a Butterfly Crosses. Environmental Humanities, 16(3), 826–841. https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-11327396