Insects and other small arthropods have played a crucial role in shaping modern societies, yet their historical agency remains weakly conceptualised. This project examines how insect-related processes influenced governance, knowledge production, and regulatory practices in East-Central Europe between the 1870s and 1960s. It introduces the Insectocene as an analytical category identifying historically bounded configurations in which biological dynamics – such as infestations, disease transmission, and population fluctuations – systematically structured human decision-making. Drawing on archival research and case studies from public health, agriculture, security and culture, the project develops a model of insect agency grounded in empirical evidence. By doing so, it contributes to environmental history and broader debates on the role of non-human actors in historical change.
The project analyses how insect-related processes shaped governance, knowledge production, and regulation in East-Central Europe (1870–1960). It develops a model of non-human agency through empirically grounded case studies.
