The Return of the Wolves. Cultural Anthropological Studies on the Process of Managing the Wolves in Germany
Final Report Abstract
The protection of wolves in the course of (inter)national legislation enabled them to migrate from the peripheries into the regions of Europe. These migrations and the occupation of new quarters caused increased encounters between wolves and humans in densely populated Europe. Until then, people had only known wolves from fairy tales or zoological gardens and were little prepared for a real encounter. The so-called "return" of the wolves was therefore associated with numerous challenges in many regions of Europe, especially for people in less densely populated areas: parents worried about taking their children to forest kindergartens, and owners of sheep, goats, horses, cattle, and other animals grazing in the open experienced encounters with wolves as a direct threat as wellt o to their economic and social existence as as emotional burden. The DFG-funded project on the "Return of the Wolves" places cultural anthropological studies on the process of wolf management in the Federal Republic of Germany alongside the previously predominant natural science research. This approach was also made possible thanks to multispecies studies, which are still little used in Germany. Multispecies studies investigate the interaction of humans and other living creatures. From the beginning, the Würzburg project focused on this innovative field of research, which builds a bridge between established natural science and new cultural and social science research. Using the example of two case studies in the Federal Republic of Germany, the project asked what is negotiated with and about wolves in European societies in the multiple crisis of the 21st century and what is made visible by the animals. Not only the different starting points, but also different (historical) experiences conditioned quite different practices and attitudes in dealing with wolves. From the very beginning, the project was based on a close cooperation with European researchers. The case study from Lower Saxony showed the social logics of rural niche economies challenged by wolves as well as a constant, intensive and extremely strenuous learning process. The necessity of open negotiation processes (with high overall social responsibility), which are ultimately a prerequisite for a successful integration of the animal immigrants, becomes clear. Comparably, the case study in Lusatia showed an impressive polyphony in the matter of the wolves already living here for a longer time. At the same time, the animals here, as in numerous other regions of Europe, stimulate an ongoing narrative; ultimately, the wolves themselves can also be understood as narrators, who continually co-produce space and identity in and through their actions.
Publications
- Mit Wölfen Lausitz erzählen. Werkstattbericht zum Multispecies Storytelling. In: Tierstudien 6 (2019): 94–103
Heyer, Marlis
- Von traumatisierten Schafen und verwundbaren Lebenswelten. Stimmen von Weidetierhalter*innen aus Niedersachsen. In: Museum am Rothenbaum: Von Wölfen und Menschen. Hamburg 2019: 41–50
Arnold, Irina
- Wer zum Haushalt gehört. Ethiken des Zusammenlebens in der Diskussion. In: Tierethik 11 (2019): 12–33
Fenske, Michaela/Heyer, Marlis
- Encounters with Wolves: Dynamics and Futures/Begegnungen mit Wölfen. Bautzen 2020 (Kleine Reihe des Sorbischen Instituts Bautzen 32)
Heyer, Marlis/Hose, Susanne (eds.)
- Getting close(r). Alive or dead: Biography, Individuality and Agency of the Wolf MT6. In: Fenske/Tschofen: Managing the Return of the Wild. Human Encounters with Wolves in Europe. London/New York 2020: 142-163
Arnold, Irina
- Made of Stone, Flesh and Narration – ‚the wolf‘ as contested lieu de mémoire. In: Fenske/Tschofen: Managing the Return of the Wild. Human Encounters with Wolves in Europe. London/New York 2020: 29-46
Heyer, Marlis/Hose, Susanne
(See online at https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351127783-3) - Managing the Return of the Wild. Human Encounters with Wolves in Europe. London/New York 2020
Fenske, Michaela/Tschofen, Bernhard (eds.)
(See online at https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351127783) - Menschen, Wölfe und andere Lebewesen. Perspektiven einer Multispecies Ethnography. In: Museum am Rothenbaum: Von Wölfen und Menschen. Hamburg 2019: 33–40
Fenske, Michaela
- Wissen, lernen, anders machen. Die Rückkehr der Wölfe als Lernprozess. In: Hamburger Journal für Kulturanthropologie 13 (2021): 317–327
Arnold, Irina
