Deborah COZ, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CNRS, UMR 5175), France
Raphaël MATHEVET, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CNRS, UMR 5175), France
Simon CHAMAILLÉ-JAMMES, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CNRS, UMR 5175), France
Animal studies question the human-animal divide and the hierarchy thus established between both terms. They seek to (re)establish a symmetry between humans and non-humans by focusing on animals’ agency, their own perspective, their affective and embodied experience. Such a project requires a radical change in terms of both research topics and methods, but putting it into practice is clearly challenging (Gillepsie and Collard, 2015).
Based on an on-going research project on wild boars in southern France, the proposed communication aims at questioning the possibility and means of answering such a call. In France, wild boars are either considered as a game species or a problematic one because of their abundance and the damages they cause on cultures or in terms of road safety for example (Mounet, 2007). Moreover, they seem to get little sympathy from conservationists or the general public. This has consequences in terms of how they are perceived, talked about and managed, with hunters having a major influence (Saldaqui, 2013). Building on these issues, our project aims at deconstructing these discourses and management practices and thus contribute to some form of emancipation, being attentive to both the species under study and the individuals that are to be involved in the research process (Bondon et al. 2021). However, the methods adopted, such as interviews and participant observation with hunters, or biologging, sometimes seem contradictory with such ambitions. Moreover, these methodological choices remind us of our own contradictions as humans and as researchers. Reflecting on these limits, and those of a form of perspectivism (Viveiros de Castro, 2009) partly based on GPS tracking, we will discuss ways to contribute to current attempts to promote and adopt more respectful and meaningful empowering practices for non-humans in animal geography.
Mots clés : non-humans|reflexivity|empowerment
A104301DC