New research interests at Academia.edu

I have registered 35 research interests in Academia.edu.

Four of these I had to create:
Anthropocene studies
Ecosemiotics
Semiotic economy
Zoosemiotics

Feel free to join me!

Endorsing the CASSE position on economic growth

I have just signed the CASSE (Center for the advancement of the steady state economy) position on economic growth, as the 6000th or so person who has done so since the statement was launched in 2004. Among the other individuals who have signed the position you'll find Jane Goodall, David Mech, Vandana Shiva and E.O. Wilson (full list here).

Whereas:
1) Economic growth, as defined in standard economics textbooks, is an increase in the production and consumption of goods and services, and;

2) Economic growth occurs when there is an increase in the multiplied product of population and per capita consumption, and;

3) The global economy grows as an integrated whole consisting of agricultural, extractive, manufacturing, and services sectors that require physical inputs and produce wastes, and;

4) Economic growth is often and generally indicated by increasing real gross domestic product (GDP) or real gross national product (GNP), and;

5) Economic growth has been a primary, perennial goal of many societies and most governments, and;

6) Based upon established principles of physics and ecology, there is a limit to economic growth, and;

7) There is increasing evidence that global economic growth is having negative effects on long-term ecological and economic welfare…

Therefore, we take the position that:
1) There is a fundamental conflict between economic growth and environmental protection (for example, biodiversity conservation, clean air and water, atmospheric stability), and;

2) There is a fundamental conflict between economic growth and the ecological services underpinning the human economy (for example, pollination, decomposition, climate regulation), and;

3) Technological progress has had many positive and negative ecological and economic effects and may not be depended on to reconcile the conflict between economic growth and long-term ecological and economic welfare, and;

4) Economic growth, as gauged by increasing GDP, is an increasingly dangerous and anachronistic goal, especially in wealthy nations with widespread affluence, and;

5) A steady state economy (that is, an economy with a relatively stable, mildly fluctuating product of population and per capita consumption) is a viable alternative to a growing economy and has become a more appropriate goal in large, wealthy economies, and;

6) The long-run sustainability of a steady state economy requires its establishment at a size small enough to avoid the breaching of reduced ecological and economic capacity during expected or unexpected supply shocks such as droughts and energy shortages, and;

7) A steady state economy does not preclude economic development, a dynamic, qualitative process in which different technologies may be employed and the relative prominence of economic sectors may evolve, and;

8) Upon establishing a steady state economy, it would be advisable for wealthy nations to assist other nations in moving from the goal of economic growth to the goal of a steady state economy, beginning with those nations currently enjoying high levels of per capita consumption, and;

9) For many nations with widespread poverty, increasing per capita consumption (or, alternatively, more equitable distributions of wealth) remains an appropriate goal.

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

Estonian-Norwegian Festschrift to appear September 16th

Norsk-estisk forening (= Norra-Eesti Ühing), the Norwegian-Estonian association, has announced that its Festschrift will be launched September 16th, at an event in Oslo. It has been named "Estland og Norge i fortid og nåtid - Norsk-estisk forening 25 år" [Estonia and Norway in the past and today - Norsk-estisk forening 25 years].

Cf. previous posts about my joint article "Da Lotman og semiotikken kom til Norge", co-written with Dinda Gorlée.

Norwegian human-animal relations anthology in progress

Cf. previous notes about this book project, with Guri Larsen, Ragnhild Sollund and myself as prospective editors (idea conceived of after criminology seminar - see also Academic news in brief IX pt. 4).

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We are still discussing the work title, but have agreed on most other features. These days we start inviting contributors (the collection - which will be in Norwegian - is invitation-only).

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In the process we have developed a 1p invitation letter, a 2p book project description, and a highly secret 3p 'innholdsdisposisjon' with drafts of contents.

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Excerpts of the book project description:

Forholdet mellom mennesker og dyr er sentralt for forståelsen av såvel kultur som natur – og ikke minst for forståelsen av vår tids eskalerende miljøkrise. Det er et tema som på grunn av sine etiske dimensjoner er gjenstand for økende interesse og debatt – også i Norge, som i denne sammenhengen har kommet ganske kort i den intellektuelle diskursen. Etiske spørsmål i forlengelsen av menneskets bruk av natur og dyr har fått økt økt interesse de siste årene, både innen ulike fag og i den offentlige debatt. Likevel er gjensidig avhengighet mellom miljø, dyr og mennesker lite belyst. Arten mennesket og andre arter er ikke bare beslektet, men er i dagens samfunn gjensidig avhengig av hverandre på en historisk unik måte. Mens det på den ene siden er et trivielt faktum at mennesket bare kan overleve som del av en større natur, har vi særlig de siste århundrene også gjort utallige dyrearter stadig mer avhengige av oss. Det moderne mennesket har innarbeidet en instrumentell (nytteorientert) tilnærming til andre dyr. Dyr utnyttes i dag på utallige måter: til mat, sko og klær, i underholdning, som arbeidsdyr, forsøksdyr, kjæledyr og så videre. Først de siste par generasjonene har det i vår kultur blitt vanlig å snakke om at dyr kan ha egenverdi uavhengig av nytteverdi. Dagens offisielle politikk for vern av biologisk mangfold sliter med eldgamle forestillinger om et nødvendig fiendskap mellom bonde-/menneskesamfunnet og utemmet natur. Så dypt sitter dette natursynet at vernetilhengere og dyrevernere av mange automatisk slås i hardtkorn med menneskefiender.

Bibliographical references - 'Semiotics of nature'

Here's bibliographical data for my contributions to the below-mentioned special issue of Hortus Semioticus (no. 6 - 2010), on Semiotics of nature:

Riin Magnus, Nelly Mäekivi and Morten Tønnessen 2010. "Editors' foreword to the Special Issue Semiotics of Nature". Hortus Semioticus 6 (SI on Semiotics of nature): 1-6 (incl. Estonian version, "Toimetajate Eessõna").

Riin Magnus and Morten Tønnessen 2010. "The Bio-Translator - Interview with Professor in Biosemiotics Kalevi Kull". Includes bibliography of Kalevi Kull’s biosemiotic publications. Hortus Semioticus 6 (SI on Semiotics of nature): 77-103.