Capitalist Agriculture and the Global Bee Crisis

Rebecca Ellis holds a PhD in Geography and Environment (2021) from Western University in London, ON, Canada. Her research project, "Pollinator People: An ethnography of bees, bee advocates and possibilities for multispecies commoning in Toronto and London, ON", examined the entangled and embodied relationship between people and urban bees. She received her BA (2008) and MA (2010) in Anthropology from Western University. Her MA research focused on the role of community gardens in a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada. Her research interests include animal geographies, political ecology, social reproduction theory, and sustainable food systems. Rebecca works as an adjunct professor at Western University and Algoma University. In addition to studying bees, agriculture, and sustainable food systems, she is a beekeeper, urban farmer, and long-time community activist.

• 1. Introduction: The global pollinator crisis and human agriculture 2. Bees in the capitalocene 3. The Apis-Industrial Complex: the commodification of the lives and work of honeybees 4. Toxic flowers and uncertain science: pesticides and bees 5. Bee-washing: agrochemical corporations and struggles over neonicotinoids 6. Which bees shall we save? Debates over honey bee harm to native bees 7. Pollinator People: hopeful possibilities for multispecies flourishing in cities 8. Conclusions: Building movements to confront capitalist agriculture