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
27 & 28 February 2023Workshop in Windhoek: Multispecies Encounters in Conservation Landscapes in Southern AfricaPreparation for a Special Issue
5 June 2023Research in Progress: Reports on fieldwork experiences and future plans in the MSE Research Network–
20 March 2024Reading Deborah Bird RoseDeborah Bird Rose (2010): Flying Fox: Kin, Keystone, Kontaminant.
3 April 2024Reading Deborah Bird RoseDeborah Bird Rose (2014): Reports from a Wild Country: Ethics for Decolonisation
17 April 2024Reading Malcom FerdinandMalcom Ferdinand (2021): Decolonial Ecology: Thinking from the Caribbean World
2 May 2024Reading Malcom FerdinandMalcom Ferdinand (2021): Decolonial Ecology: Thinking from the Caribbean World
15 May 2024Reading Marisol de la CadenaMarisol de la Cadena (2019) Uncommoning Nature: Stories from the Anthropo-Not-Seen
5 June 2024Reading Gísli PálssonGísli Pálsson (2024) The Last of Its Kind
19 June 2024Reading Juno Salazar ParreñasJuno Salazar Parreñas (2018) Decolonizing Extinction
3 July 2024Visit by Juno Salazar Parreñas (Cornell University)Lecture: Animals and Global Racial Capitalism in an Age of Misanthropy
31 July 2024Reading Vinciane DespretVinciane Despret (2016) What Would Animals Say If We Asked the Right Questions?

Contact
Emilie Köhler
ERC Rewilding the Anthropocene
University of Cologne
Global South Studies Centre
Classen-Kappelmann Straße 24
50931 Cologne