Symposium in Turku: "Animals wild and tame – peering beyond categories"

The Symposium "Animals wild and tame – peering beyond categories" will be held at University of Turku, Finland, 30–31 May 2016. Deadline for abstracts is February 29th. See more info here and Call For Papers here.

Turku: Predator panel report

The Turku ESEH panel "Never cry wolf. Human-predator interactions", which I mentioned before it took place yesterday, was not attended by all that many - around 25 people including panelists and local staff. But contentwise it was good, really good. Even all contributions from the audience (made up of environmental historians) were without exception relevant and stimulating. The panel session lasted for 2 hours.

Heta Lähdesmäki was there instead of Jukka Bisi. Chair and initiator Timo Vuorisalo had brought a stuffed wolverine for the occasion. We the four panelists did not fundamentally disagree on any point, though there were some cases where the situation in Poland was not comparable to that in Norway, Sweden and Finland.

The 6th European conference in environmental history was my second conference in that field. In 2009 I participated at the 1st world congress in environmental history, in Copenhagen, where I introduced my notion of alienated wolves.

Panelist in Turku session: "Never cry wolf. Human-predator interactions"

Later this afternoon (at 17.30-19.30), at the sixth ESEH conference in environmental history, in Turku, Finland, I will participate in the regional panel "Never cry wolf. Human-predator interactions", along with Karin Dirke (of Sweden), Tomasz Samojlik (of Poland) and a replacement for Jukka Bisi (Finland). The panel is chaired and organized by Turku biologist Timo Vuorisalo, and is one of two parallel regional sessions this afternoon.

The topical presentation (to be found in the conference's hand programme) of the panel reads:

It is probable that human attitudes towards large avian or mammalian predators have been ambivalent since prehistoric times: predators have simultaneously been both admired and revered for their audacity and strength, and maligned as competitors or even predators of man. Some species such as the Gray Wolf, Lion and Tiger continue to have a significant role in folklore and popular culture. A diverse literature exists on the impacts of predators on society, the types of predator folklore and human attitudes towards predators in different parts of the world. Management of predator populations and their conservation remain a source of serious controversy even in post-industrial societies.

However, human-predator interactions and discussions on predator policies have been rarely discussed from the perspective of environmental history. This panel will include histories of perceived physical danger and human fear of predators, controversies related to predator management issues, causes and consequences of persecution of predators, cultural constructs associated with predators, environmental correlates of predator folklore, and personal experiences of predators. The panel has been organized in the hope that environmental history may help us make sense of the diverse human sentiments toward predators.

Environmental history, Turku: Hand programme and abstracts

Here at the 6th conference of the European Society for Environmental history in Turku, Finland a hand programme with abstracts has been handed out to all participants. It is also available for download online.

I am mentioned three places (though only two are listed in the index, p. 249):
- p. 26: as a session organizer and presenter in the session "Animal agency and environmental history - three different approaches to Nordic wolves" (29/6)
- p. 44: as one of the panelists in the regional panel "Never cry wolf. Human-predator interactions" (30/6)
- p. 154: with the abstract to my talk mentioned on p. 26 "Wolf history: Agents in hiding"

Talk on wolf agency in Turku held

Yesterday I presented my paper "Wolf history: Agents in hiding" here at the 6th conference of the European Society for Environmental History ("Encounters of Sea and Land" - Turku, Finland), where there are close to 300 participants and some 240 presentations. The presentation was the first of three in the session "Animal agency and history - three different approaches to Nordic wolves", initiated by Håkon Stokland and attended by around 15 people. I enjoyed both of the two other papers, by Heta Lähdesmäki and Karin Dirke.

No travel grant

I applied for a travel grant for the upcoming European conference in environmental history, to be arranged in Turku June 28 - July 2nd, but did not get it - likely because they had numerous candidates from poorer countries than Norway (sic).

Turku: Participant in discussion panel on predators

Speaking about the 6th conference of the European Society for Environmental History (ESEH), I have been invited to be a participant in the regional discussion panel “Never cry wolf – A panel discussion on human-predator interaction”, which will be chaired by Timo Vuorisalo and is scheduled for Thursday June 30th at 17.30-19.00.

Turku: Session organizer

I have volunteered to take over the responsibility as session organizer of "Animal agency and environmental history: Three different approaches to Nordic wolves" at the upcoming European conference in environmental history (ESEH 6). The session, which now counts three papers, has been scheduled for Wednesday June 19th at 09.00-10.30. The other presenters are Heta Lähdesmäki and Karin Dirke. My presentation is entitled "Wolf history: Agents in hiding". The session was initiated by Håkon Stokland.

Wolf history: Agents in hiding

[Abstract of paper accepted for presentation at the sixth ESEH conference, see previous post]

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WOLF HISTORY: AGENTS IN HIDING
BY MORTEN TØNNESSEN

Humans are so accustomed to being the subjects of history that to many, it is provocative to claim that animals too can be actors of history. Such attitudes are enthused by our age-old philosophical dismissal of animals. A hundred years ago, nature writers William J. Long and Ernest Thompson Seton caused controversy by claiming that their writings were accurate representations of natural history. Their depiction of wolves sparked a debate about whether animals were individual creatures subject to learning or instinct-driven specimen. Charges of anthropocentrism and anthropomorphism have never silenced, and the relation between science and folklore remains troublesome.
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The cultural baggage at play in the discourse about wolf policies is so overwhelming that even an environmental historian can be excused for confusing the map with the territory. While in a strict sense we cannot go beyond having cultural perceptions of the wolf, it does matter how we treat the wolf in environmental history. Attributing agenthood to the wolf entails, for a start, to regard it as an animal that acts. Naturally, there is a whole range of different actions (biologist Jakob von Uexküll operated with seven categories). In many cases, wolves are decision makers. They make informed choices (typically based on what Michael Polanyi calls tacit knowing).
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Being an actor may not in itself qualify anyone as an actor of historical significance. But some individuals stand out. To illustrate the function wolf agency can play in environmental history, I will make use of three examples:
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1 The beast of Gévaudan: Man-eating wolf(s) that caused havoc in 1764-1767 (disputed).
2 “Ivan”: An immigrant from the East that was shot illegally (contemporary Norway)
3 The Galven bitch: Unaware of management zones, this sheep-eating female was the first to be relocated (contemporary Norway)

Animal agency presentation accepted

I have just been informed that the panel proposed by my collaborator Håkon Stokland for the sixth conference of the European Society for Environmental History, to be arranged in Turku, Finland, June 28th to July 2nd 2011, has been accepted by the scientific committee. The title of the panel session has been changed from "Animal agency and history - three different approaches to Scandinavian wolves" to "Animal agency and environmental history - three different approaches to Nordic wolves", and the committee has added a fourth presenter, a Ms. Heta Lähdesmäki.

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Below is an overview of the four papers now included in the panel (Dr. Frank Zelko will be the session chair).

"Wolf history: Agents in hiding"

PhD candidate Morten Tønnessen

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"Influencing military strategy, developing chemistry, changing politics: The role of the wolf in 1800-century Sweden"

Dr. Karin Dirke

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"Animal agency and the wolf that saved an entire population"

PhD candidate Håkon Stokland

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"Controlling wolves: Attitudes towards wolves in Finland in the 1990s"

Ms. Heta Lähdesmäki