Member of committee for publication project at University of Valladolid

I have agreed to be part of a committee related to a publication project at University of Valladolid (Spain) run by Juan R. Coca which involves publishing a digital book on biosemiotics, and another one within biosociology.

IVSA member

I have just become a member of the International Visual Sociology Association, in anticipation of IVSA 2016, to be held at Lillehammer in June.

Abstract for IVSA 2016: "Synchronicity in human perception of animals"

I have just submitted the abstract below to the organizers of IVSA (The International Visual Sociology Association (IVSA) 2016 (Lillehammer, Norway, June 22-24).

Synchronicity in human perception of animals

By Morten Tønnessen, Associate professor of philosophy, University of Stavanger

This paper presents findings from 13 video-recorded interviews conducted Spring 2015 in Norway focused on the respondents´ perception of wolves and related animals which are often perceived to be in conflict with wolves. The interviews were conducted in the rural municipalities Kautokeino (Finnmark county) and Rendalen (Hedmark), and the urban municipalities Stavanger (Rogaland) and Kristiansand (Vest-Agder). The respondents were shown images, video-clips and audio featuring wolves, elk, dogs, sheep, reindeer and people, and prompted to explain what they saw and/or heard. In the course of these verbal explanations, accompanied by telling body language, it becomes clear how the respondents sought e.g. to determine the species of featured animals, or understand the situation on display.

I will demonstrate different ways in which human perception of animals is synchronized, and show examples involving simultaneous display of multiple screens and video-recordings. A study of synchronicity in human perception of animals can reveal patterns and tendencies in such perception, and inform us about the respondents´ identity, attitudes and self-understanding. By making use of parameters including geography, demography, occupation and hobbies, this study sheds light on the ways in which human self-understanding is always based in part on our ideas about animals.

Acknowledgements: This work has been carried out thanks to the support of the research project Animals in Changing Environments: Cultural Mediation and Semiotic Analysis (EEA Norway Grants/Norway Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 under project contract no. EMP151). Paul Thibault took part in designing and conducting the interviews; Laura Kiiroja contributed by cataloguing the video-recorded interviews.

Summary of book review now online

My book review of Rune Ellefsen´s Med lov til å pine: Om bruk og beskyttelse av dyr (Oslo: Inspirator Forlag/Fritt Forlag), published in Sosiologi i dag 45(1), pp. 98–103 (print version), has now been published online. Full text is available for subscribers only. Online summary here.

Book review for Sosiology idag proof-read yet again; reference

Today I have conducted yet another proof-reading (now page proofs) of my forthcoming review of Rune Ellefsen´s book. Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten 2015. Rune Ellefsen 2013. Med lov til å pine: Om bruk og beskyttelse av dyr. Oslo: Inspirator Forlag/Fritt Forlag. Book review. Sosiologi i dag 45(1) (Special Issue on „Miljøsosiologi“ [Environmental sociology]): 98–103.

Peer review conducted for sociology journal

Last autumn I conducted a peer review for the Norwegian academic journal Sosiology idag.

Book review for sociology journal proof-read (again)

Roughly a couple of weeks ago I proof-read (for the second time) my forthcoming book review for Sosiology idag on Rune Ellefsen´s book Med rett til å pine.

Book review of Rune Ellefsen's book finished

Yesterday I finished and submitted my book review of Rune Ellefsens book Med lov til å pine: Om bruk og beskyttelse av dyr, an academic, Norwegian animal protection book.

Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten, forthcoming. Rune Ellefsen 2013. Med lov til å pine: Om bruk og beskyttelse av dyr. Oslo: Inspirator Forlag/Fritt Forlag. Book review. Sosiologi i dag (Special Issue on „Miljøsosiologi“ [Environmental sociology]).

Sociology debate letter to the editor posted in Minding Animals blog

This week's post in the Minding Animals Norway blog is written by me. Entitled "Er ikke dyr blant samfunnets svakeste?" [Aren't animals among society's weakest?], the text was originally published as a letter to the editor in the Norwegian daily Dagbladet July 16th.

See also:

Letter to the editor in Norwegian daily Dagbladet: "Aren't animals among society'sweakest?" (July)

HAS anthology mentioned in letter to the editor in Dagbladet

The recently published Norwegian Human-Animal Studies anthology I am a co-editor of, Hvem er villest i landet her? Råskap mot dyr og natur i antropocen, menneskets tidsalder [Who is wildest in this country here? Brutality towards animals and nature in the Anthropocene, the age of Man], is mentioned in a letter to the editor by Ragnhild Sollund and published in Norway's third biggest daily, Dagbladet, today, entitled "Kunnskapsløst om dyr" [loosely; Ignorant about animals]. Excerpt (my translation):

If Forr [pictured below] wants to get informed about easily available Norwegian research in this field [Human-Animal Studies], he can in addition [to reading the debated special issue of Sosiologi idag] read the book Hvem er villest i landet her? (eds. Ragnhild Sollund,  Morten Tønnessen and Guri Larsen, published by Spartacus/Scandinavian Academic Press this spring).

See also:

Letter to the editor in Norwegian daily Dagbladet: "Aren't animals among society's weakest?" (July 16th)

Reference for forthcoming book review on wolf conflicts

Some three weeks back I proof-read my book review which is to appear in the Norwegian academic journal Sosiologi idag [Sociology today] this autumn. The review will appear with no title, and no summary (correction to previous post). Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten 2013. Ketil Skogen, Olve Krange og Helene Figari 2013, Ulvekonflikter – en sosiologisk studie, Oslo 2013: Akademika forlag. Book review. Sosiologi idag 43(2): 117-122.

Book review on wolf conflicts revised

Yesterday I revised the book review I completed April 30th/May 1st, on Norwegian wolf conflicts. It will be published without the summary (in Norwegian plus English) that I wrote, and with no title. The other substantial revision implied not referring to my own work on wolf management. The revisions were made on request by the guest editor.

HAS anthology: Announcement link; high-res cover image

The upcoming book launch May 15th of the Norwegian Human-Animal Studies anthology I have co-edited has been announced on the website of Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law (University of Oslo), which will host the event - see here.

Also, here's a version of the cover image in somewhat higher resolution:

Book review on wolf conflicts completed - summary here

This night (sic) I finished a book review on the recently published book Ulvekonflikter – en sosiologisk studie [Wolf conflicts - a sociological study]. My review - which might have to be either shortened (in order to qualify as a book review) or rewritten (in order to qualify as a book essay) - is submitted  to the Norwegian academic journal Sosiologi idag [Sociolocy today], on invitation (by guest editor Ragnhild Sollund), and amounts to some 2.500 words as of now.

Full reference to the book reviewed:

Skogen, Ketil, Olve Krange & Helene Figari 2013. Ulvekonflikter – en sosiologisk studie [Wolf conflicts - a sociological study]. Oslo: Akademika forlag.

While being a monograph in form, and (re)written for the occasion, this book envelopes material from a number of already published English language journal articles, etc. I consider it an important contribution in the Norwegian context.

My review includes an English language summary, which reads like this:

Summary The book Ulvekonflikter [Wolf conflicts] summarizes research conducted by the three authors, which is based on interviews with informants in five Norwegian municipalities. The book is well-written – and important. As they stress, the controversy about wolves can only be explained by taking the larger social context into account, and by interpreting everything expressed with regard to wolves in light of central dimensions of conflict and processes of change. Among opponents of the wolf, it is particularly associated with urbanity and an expanding, educated middle class. Unlike in earlier times, contemporary wolf conflicts are predominantly conflicts between people. Ulvekonflikter succeeds in establishing such basic claims while also being nuanced in its presentation in a way that does virtually all stakeholders justice. Through analysis of beliefs there is broad support for as well as beliefs surrounded by controversy, this book provides valuable advice to policy and management. 

Keywords: Wolf management, attitudes to wolves, beliefs about wolves, wolves as symbols, predators, nature view