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The Nightcrawlers
A Story of Worms, Cows, and Cash in the Underground Bait Industry
Brief Description
How does a banal earthworm become a valuable commodity? Lumbricus terrestris, otherwise known as the Canadian nightcrawler, is the most popular live bait used by recreational anglers throughout the world. Each year, as many as seven hundred million worms are handpicked from Ontario farmland for the...
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Description
How does a banal earthworm become a valuable commodity? Lumbricus terrestris, otherwise known as the Canadian nightcrawler, is the most popular live bait used by recreational anglers throughout the world. Each year, as many as seven hundred million worms are handpicked from Ontario farmland for the bait market, earning the region the undisputed title of worm capital of the world.
The Nightcrawlers goes deep into the empirical underground to see how capital confronts a diverse cast of human and nonhuman characters: stubborn worms, wealthy dairy farmers and their precious cow manure, immigrant pickers labouring at night, and worm wholesalers who undercut each other through tax fraud and money laundering.
This eccentric tale of worms, cows, and cash reveals the inherent contradictions in capitalism's attempts to commodify the living worldβincluding the soil organisms that are inches beneath our feet.
Series: Critical Environments: Nature, Science, and Politics
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The Nightcrawlers
How does a banal earthworm become a valuable commodity? Lumbricus terrestris, otherwise known as the Canadian nightcrawler, is the most popular live bait used by recreational anglers throughout the world. Each year, as many as seven hundred million worms are handpicked from Ontario farmland for the bait market, earning the region the undisputed title of worm capital of the world....Paperback$5699Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780520413702
Publisher: University of California Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 17 June 2025
Country: United States
Imprint: University of California Press
Illustration: 16 b-w illustrations, 1 map, 4 tables
Audience: Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 20.0mm
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 229.0mm
Weight: 363g
Pages: 262
About the Author
Joshua Steckley is a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Science at Carleton University.
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