The Multispecies Network is an initiative of scholars based at the Global South Studies Centre at the University of Cologne. The network was initiated by anthropologists from the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology that are dedicated to study multispecies assemblages, entanglements and networks and who would like to explore multispecies relations on a multi- and interdisciplinary level. In two major projects – the Collaborative Research Centre 228 and the REWILDING programs – we look at multispecies relations in Eastern and Southern Africa over the next years and engage with questions such as:
What are the characters of multispecies relations in different contexts, what kinds of transformation processes do these relations experience, and how are multispecies futures envisioned, proposed and created?

Multispecies Reading Group
The Multispecies Reading Group engages in the exploration and reading of texts that deal with multispecies relations in the humanities. Inspired by the works in the field of multispecies ethnography, we engage with materials that offer new perspectives on animal-human relations and emphasise a more-than-human perspective.
Date | Topic | Reading |
---|---|---|
08.01.2025 | Discussing interdisciplinary readings | Individual choice |
22.01.2025 | Domestication | Lien et al. (2018) Introduction: Naming the Beast - exploring the Otherwise. Tsing (2018) Nine provocations for the study of domestication |
05.02.2025 | Rewilding | Von Essen, Allen (2016) Wild-But-Not-Too-Wild Animals: Challenging Goldilocks Standards in Rewilding |
19.02.2025 | Work in Progress | Paper draft by Emilie Köhler |
05.03.2025 | Invasive Species | van Dooren (2011) Invasive Species in Penguin Worlds: An Ethical Taxonomy of Killing for Conservation Head (2017) The social dimensions of invasive plants |
19.03.2025 | Work in Progress | Paper draft by Wisse van Engelen |
02.04.2025 | tbd |
Contact
Emilie Köhler
Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Classen-Kappelmann-Straße 24
50931 Cologne