Final call for paper for RGS Annual Conference, London, August 26-29, 2014
Session title: Historical animal geographies: Tracking traces in the archive
Abstract:
Animals squirrel themselves away in the archive. Paw prints,
scratches, squeaks, growls, howls and other traces of non-human life
hibernate in our libraries, attics and museums. The researcher
following such tracks, however, runs into theoretical and
methodological challenges: animal evidence is often scarce and
indelibly marked by anthropomorphism (Fudge 2002). The creatures we
examine did not ?speak? for or record themselves - nor, as
Wittgenstein?s lion hypothesis reminds us, would we necessarily
understand them if they did. Yet, as Hayden Lorimer writes,
?substantial signs of life abound. Massings and assemblies are still
etched into place. [?] Patterns of living repeat? (2010, 63). A
diverse body of geographical writing now thrives on the
?more-than-human? dimensions of human-animal encounters. Such work
sits within a wider ?posthumanist? turn throughout the social sciences
and humanities, challenging the privileged position of the modern
human subject and aiming to ?animate? scholarship by including the
subjectivities, sensibilities and agencies previously excluded from
the consideration of Enlightenment rationality (Noel and Castree
2004). As geographers stalking these often wily, hushed or even
camouflaged subjects, we need the means to uncover and understand
animal actions and significance. We need concerted and creative
engagement with the ?animal archive?; that mass of documents produced
in the collaborative presence of all manner of beastly agencies,
through which we might access their lived pasts as well as our own
(Benson, 2011). This session, then, will explore past animal lives, as
well as the methods and challenges that characterize the scholarly
strategies we use to engage with them.
We invite papers that consider:
- Historical animal geographies from ancient times to the recent past.
- Theoretical and conceptual engagements with the concept of ?the
animal? in the context of historical geography.
- Methodological approaches, considerations and pitfalls in the study
of past animal lives.
- The mobilization of concepts such as the ?post-human?,
?more-than-human? and hybridity in historical contexts.
- Human-animal relations in uneven or unjust historical contexts, such
as colonial and post-colonial societies, or as such relations overlap,
parallel or merge with inequalities of gender, race, nationality and
so on.
Instructions for presenters:
If you would like to participate, please submit a title and abstract
(300 words max) to both Julian Baker and Ben Garlick by 5pm on Friday
14th February. Please include your name, email address and
institutional affiliation.
Convenors
Julian Baker ([log in to unmask]); Ben Garlick ([log in to unmask])
University of Edinburgh
Best wishes,
Julian CT Baker
Phd Candidate in Geography
University of Edinburgh
--
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
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