Multispecies Research Network

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?

Little Bee-Eater (Merops pusillus) in the Zambezi Region, Namibia

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.

 

 

DateTopicReading
08.01.2025Discussing interdisciplinary readingsIndividual choice
22.01.2025DomesticationLien et al. (2018) Introduction: Naming the Beast - exploring the Otherwise.

Tsing (2018) Nine provocations for the study of domestication
05.02.2025RewildingVon Essen, Allen (2016) Wild-But-Not-Too-Wild Animals: Challenging Goldilocks Standards in Rewilding
19.02.2025Work in ProgressPaper draft by Emilie Köhler
05.03.2025Invasive Speciesvan Dooren (2011) Invasive Species in Penguin Worlds: An Ethical Taxonomy of Killing for Conservation

Head (2017) The social dimensions of invasive plants
19.03.2025Work in ProgressPaper draft by Wisse van Engelen
02.04.2025tbd

Contact

Emilie Köhler

Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology 

Classen-Kappelmann-Straße 24

50931 Cologne