S3E7: Multispecies Commons with Marcus Baynes-Rock
Claudia talks to Marcus Baynes-Rock about his work with urban hyenas in Harar, Ethiopia. They discuss how these animals navigate the urban and then delve into the concept of ‘multispecies commons’. In many ways, they workshop the concept in the episode trying to unpack how it is useful as both a theoretical and methodological tool.
Marcus Baynes-Rock is an anthropologist who studies the interfaces between humans and animals. His book Among the Bone Eaters tracks his experiences following urban hyenas in the town of Harar, in Ethiopia. More recently he has written about the new wave of animal domestication and what is can teach us about the destruction of the world’s ecological systems. Connect with Marcus via his blog (https://amonganimals.wordpress.com/) or on Twitter (@MBaynesRock).
Mentioned:
Life and death in the multispecies commons Marcus Baynes-Rock
Among the Bone Eaters: Encounters with Hyenas in Harar Marcus Baynes-Rock
Crocodile Undone: The Domestication of Australia’s Fauna by Marcus Baynes-Rock
The Tender Carnivore and the Sacred Game by Paul Shepard.
"The husbandry system whose forms underlie the foundations of modern thought excludes wild nature as chaotic, other and evil" . Paul Shepard, The Tender Carnivore and Sacred Prey (1998)
Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring this podcast; the Sonic Arts Studio and the Sonic Arts of Place Laboratory (SAPLab) for sponsoring this season; Gordon Clarke (Instagram: @_con_sol_) for the bed music, Jeremy John (Website) for the logo, and Hannah Hunter for the Animal Highlight