Mollusks as bioindicators in water supply system: work, collaboration, or exploitation?

As part of research conducted at the intersection of bioethics, interspecies ethnography, and water anthropology, Magdalena Kozhevnikova examines the relationship between humans and freshwater mussels of the species Unio tumidus. These mussels inhabit technicized environments: water intakes and water supply systems, where their role is to monitor the quality of water intended for human consumption. Do we encounter labor relationships here (according to categories outlined by D. Haraway) or exploitation (in line with utilitarian ethics)? Interspecies relationships are situated within a broader hydro-social context, wherein each species possesses distinct knowledge about water, differing skills, and unique needs for interaction with it. Moreover, and perhaps foremost, these relationships involve specific individuals engaged in labor involving water.

The project is being conducted under the NCN Sonata 16 grant, project number 2020/39/D/HS300618, titled “The Experience of Water Scarcity, Excess, and Sustainable Presence. An Outline in the Current of Blue Anthropology” („Doświadczenie braku, nadmiaru i zrównoważonej obecności wody. Szkic w nurcie błękitnej antropologii”). The project is led by Małgorzata Owczarska.