Sustaining the Territory with Agave Pulquero in Rural Mexico: A Transdisciplinary Approach to More-Than-Human Care Commoning

The acceleration of monoculture, including that of agave pulquero, has threatened the preservation of a life-sustaining territory in rural Mexico. Recent studies from the natural and social sciences, which have overwhelmingly identified agave’s commercial benefits to humans, overlooked the damage caused by monoculture and the socioecological interdependencies that contribute to the preservation of the territory. This paper conceptualizes the shared damaged territory as a commons and collective efforts by nonhumans and humans surrounding agave pulquero that contribute to the regeneration of the damaged territory as more-than-human care commoning. To illuminate the complex efforts, we employ a transdisciplinary approach that incorporates knowledge from the natural and social sciences, as well as that of non-Western growers. Revealing three interdependencies: among nonhumans, between nonhumans and humans, and among humans, where care enacted through the agency and labor of nonhumans and humans is nested within one another, this study constructs narratives that enable ethical responsibility for fostering multispecies flourishing.