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Paper short abstract

Migrants in Finland explore ways to protect kin, both human and non-human, from ticks. This shows how regeneration happens through looking after each other, suffering harm, and working together with other species in the face of climate change and shifting ecologies.

Paper long abstract

Warming environments enable the spread of ticks and the microbes they carry (Laaksonen et al. 2017; Aivelo et al. 2019; Kukko-Liedes & Nykänen 2024), thereby introducing new health risks for families and their non-human companions. Drawing on ethnographic research I conducted between 2022 and 2024 in Finland, this paper explores how migrants engage in multispecies regenerative practices of care to protect themselves, their children, and animals from tick-borne diseases. These practices range from medical recommendations for tick removal (e.g. THL 2022) to techniques learned through family networks, such as intergenerational intimate body checks or plant coalitions around the house.

I propose reading these routines through the concept of regeneration as a relational, multispecies response to ecological crisis. Finnish nature is celebrated as spaces that support wellbeing, health, and national belonging (Bodström 2020), yet entry into these landscapes is nevertheless shaped by knowledge of risks and behavioural norms. However, regeneration is uneven. While the proliferation of ticks may signal ecological renewal for the ecosystem, it simultaneously exposes humans and companion species to harm. Care for human and non-human kin entails exclusions, affective violence, and the abjection of non-human beings whose presence disturbs bodily and moral order (Braidotti 2013; Creed 2017; Kristeva 1982/2024). While both human and tick bodies move, human and non-human forms of regeneration coexist, conflict, and inform each other. I show how regeneration emerges through both continuity (drawing on inherited knowledges) and transformation (experimenting with new alliances, imaginaries, and techniques) in the context of moving to a new country.