Multifaceted Care

Abstract This special issue foregrounds Balkan perspectives as vital yet underrepresented contributions to the study of more-than-human sociality. Drawing on the region’s striking ecological diversity—ranging from mountainous terrains and karst landscapes to river systems and post-industrial ecologies—alongside its layered histories of empire, socialism, postsocialist and neoliberal transitions, conflict, and periods of stability, the articles examine how multispecies entanglements unfold within these complex environments. Across these contributions, care emerges as a central leitmotif, revealing the ethical and affective dimensions of human and non-human relations. The Introduction to the issue frames care as a multifaceted, relational force, situated within reciprocal engagements between humans and their geo-social environments. This approach challenges universalist narratives of the Anthropocene and emphasizes the importance of context-sensitive, place-based perspectives. By grounding theoretical insight in the Balkans, the volume offers new ways of understanding how care and more-than-human socialities are shaped by historical, ecological, and political entanglements.