#20,5

Today I have had a writing day, #20,5 this Autumn, mainly devoted to a co-written article with Martin Drenthen work-titled "Understanding persistent erroneous beliefs about wolf behaviour in light of ideas about animal agency", with some 700 words written and a disposition outlined.

Interviewed by regional newspaper on wolves

Today I have been interviewed by a journalist from Fædrelandsvennen about the cultural and ecological background for ongoing conflicts about wolf conservation. The interview will appear in a few weeks, in the weekly magazine of the newspaper.

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 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

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.

Nova: Semiotics e-book published; new invite received

The Nova book Semiotics: Theory and applications, where I contribute with chapter 6, The Semioethics Interviews III: John Deely: Human Understanding in the Age of Global Awareness, has now apparently been published both as an e-book and in print. The e-book version was said to be in final production as of March 12th (see below).

Cf.
Nova's semiotics anthology published? (March 12)
Nova's semiotics publication: To be released when? (February 1)

Meanwhile, today I received a third invitation to contribute with a chapter to a Nova Science Publishers anthology (along with countless others, I am sure). The topic this time: Wolves: Biology, Behavior and Conservation.

Shared Worlds, Oslo MA event: Webpage; roundtable description

The Oslo Minding Animals Pre-Conference event, "Shared Worlds", now has a webpage.
Program
Speakers
About
Organizers
Abstracts
Contact

Today I've written a description of the roundtable on the shared worlds of wolves and people.

Humans and wolves have co-evolved. We have several species-characteristic behavioral patterns in common, among them being social hunters. To varying degrees, a wolf is human-like, and a human wolf-like. The Big Bad Wolf has given rise to a vivid cultural imagery – it is a symbol, a cultural icon, and an animal that is highly sensitive to our own evolving human ecology. In Scandinavia, wolf management is controversial and currently under political review. How are we to co-exist? How do our behaviors and management regimes shape the world of the wolf, and how do they shape us?

First Norwegian wolf journal article in process

I have described an idea for an article on Norwegian wolf conservation and agricultural policies for the editor of Samtiden, Norway's biggest general academic journal (dedicated to matters of politics, literature and society). Getting the response that it might be of interest for them, I have started writing it, and given it the preliminary title "Visjon 2040: Fra rovdrift til Utopi Buane" [Vision 2040: From /untranslatable/ to Utopia Buane]. I hope to finish a first draft this weekend.

Wolf chronicle

The chronicle I have previously referred to as "Hvem er villest i landet her? - Et ulveliv" [Who's the wildest in the country here? - A wolf's life]" has been published in the weekly newsmagazine Ny Tid under the title "Når villdyret overvåkes" [loosely: When wild animals are monitored]. It is accompanied by an illustration (drawing) by Firuz Kutal. Full reference:

Morten Tønnessen 2010. Når villdyret overvåkes. Ny Tid no. 39 2010 (November 5-11), p32-34.

Note that I have listed three corrections (one is rather a precisation) in my Norwegian language blog Utopisk Realisme, concerning the use of ear-tags/chips in management, the practice of captures, and a statement by the major of Rendalen.

Pics and videos from Langedrag

I am in the process of making available pics and videos from Langedrag mountain farm and wildlife park. Unfortunately I've encountered some technical problems, not least due to poorly-functioning, low-performance Blogspot (essa porra não functiona...). Pics, therefore, will have to wait for a little.

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Videos are in the process of being uploaded to You Tube (MrMortenTonnessen's channel).

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Walking with Mr. Wolf

Socialized wolves at Langedrag meet kindergarten kids

PDF, and bibliographical reference, for "Is a wolf..."

September 16th I posted that Humanimalia vol. 2, no. 1 was published. At that point no PDFs were on site. Now, however, they are - including for my contribution "Is a wolf wild as long as it does not know it is being thoroughly managed?" (which has been given the short-title "Is a wolf wild as long as it does not know it is managed?").

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Bibliographical reference:

Morten Tønnessen 2010. "Is a wolf wild as long as it does not know it is being thoroughly managed?" Humanimalia - a journal of human/animal interface studies 2(1): 1-8.

Abstract: The legality and ethical legitimacy of wolf hunting in Scandinavia

I have just submitted an abstract to the 52nd research seminar of the Scandinavian Research Council for Criminology (SCRfC), to take place at Hønefoss, Norway, May 10-12.

The legality and ethical legitimacy of wolf hunting in Scandinavia

This presentation will partake in the session May 11th, “Globalisering i kriminologien og økologisk kriminologi”.

First, I will briefly examine laws and rules regulating wolves in Norway and Sweden since “Lov om Utryddelse af Rovdyr og Fredning af andet Vildt” (Law on Extinction of Carnivores and Protection of other Wildlife) was enforced in Norway in 1845. This section will include comparisons of Norwegian and Swedish management regulations. In Norway, wolves have had the status of a protected species since 1972, but conservation policies remain controversial – and are regularly sabotaged by means of illegal hunting. The same goes for Sweden, which in January orchestrated the first legal wolf hunt for more than a generation.

Second, I will discuss the ethical legitimacy of legal and illegal wolf hunting respectively. How do they compare, in terms of what is justifiable in light of sustainable development etc.? The centrality of this question is evidenced by the fact that a majority of Scandinavian wolves today die in the encounter with a bullet. Even though the motivation of the various shooters varies greatly, the outcome for the wolf is systematically similar. Unlike illegal hunting, legal hunts have the sanction of the law. From a pragmatic standpoint, however, the attempts to negotiate agreement with opponents of conservation policies by allowing or conducting wolf hunts do not seem to have much effect on the level of illegal hunting. Rather than working so as to combat illegal hunting, one could claim that current management strategies rather legitimize wolf hunting as a phenomenon in general.