Between Fish, Rivers, and Riparian Communities: Reflections toward a Multispecies Sentipensar in a Latin American Key

Abstract

In this article I propose some reflections on developing a Latin American multispecies Sentipensar, or feel-think, through the study of interdependent relationships between fish and riverine communities in the Samaná Norte River in the Colombian Andes. The study is based on a multispecies ethnography involving daily interactions, interviews, and riverine journeys, following the entanglements among bocachicos, fishers, and waters. Its main contribution shows that Latin American multispecies feel-think is not a simple extension of Anglo-American academic currents, but a situated knowledge emerging from popular wisdom and millenary practices that recognize interdependencies. I argue that multispecies relations in the region are shaped by extractivism, colonial violence, and struggles for environmental justice. This feel-think is nourished by affections, sensory experiences, and territorial rootedness, exceeding reason and science as sole mediators, and embracing a pluriverse of relational worlds.