The Polish milky ways A socio-historical case of the human-nonhuman relationship

This article discusses the socio-historical case of the human – non-human networks of Polish farmers engaged in milk production and cow herding. “Milky ways” is a term referring to var­ious ways, networks and social constellations which determine the socio-political landscape of Polish milk and dairy production and cow herding. The analysis includes ways in which, in various timeframes (before the Second World War, during Socialism, in the present time), milk is remembered to have linked a farming community and served as ways of sustenance for various types of farmers and local inhabitants (e.g. Jews, townspeople). The article explores what actors (people, products, spaces, and politics) formed the milky-way network, bringing into question the well-being and coping strategies of present-day farmers. Data for this study was collected during ethnographic fieldwork in Eastern Poland in the summer of 2019, as well as between 2010 and 2014 in villages around a small Podlachian town.