bird stories
from a struggling planet
Thom van Dooren
Under this broad theme I am exploring a range of case studies in which species or local populations of birds are sliding towards extinction or in serious decline. Bringing ethnographic work into conversation with the theoretical insights of the ecological humanities and science and technology studies (STS), I am particular concerned with the relationships between these disappearing birds and the various communities of humans that care about them or rely on them in a vast array of different ways.
My first research project in this area focused on the vultures of India and the surrounding region who have experienced a massive decline in their numbers in recent decades. It is now feared by many that they may become extinct in the wild in the coming years.
Indian Vulture
(Image (c) Lip Kee)
More recently, I have also begun work on a research project on a small colony of Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor), living in Sydney's North Harbour. This project is particularly concerned with the complexities of conservation in an urban environment.
A Little Penguin from the St. Kilda colony in Melbourne (Australia's other urban colony)
Image by Richard Fisher / CC BY 2.0
Under this broad theme I am exploring a range of case studies in which species or local populations of birds are sliding towards extinction or in serious decline. Bringing ethnographic work into conversation with the theoretical insights of the ecological humanities and science and technology studies (STS), I am particular concerned with the relationships between these disappearing birds and the various communities of humans that care about them or rely on them in a vast array of different ways.
My first research project in this area focused on the vultures of India and the surrounding region who have experienced a massive decline in their numbers in recent decades. It is now feared by many that they may become extinct in the wild in the coming years.
- van Dooren, T. (forthcoming): Vulture, Reaktion Books; London
- van Dooren, T. (forthcoming): 'Pain of Extinction: The Death of a Vulture', Cultural Studies Review
- van Dooren, T. (forthcoming): 'Vultures and their People in India: Equity and Entanglement in a Time of Extinctions', D. Rose and T. van Dooren (eds.) Unloved Others: Death of the Disregarded in a Time of Extinctions.
Indian Vulture
(Image (c) Lip Kee)
More recently, I have also begun work on a research project on a small colony of Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor), living in Sydney's North Harbour. This project is particularly concerned with the complexities of conservation in an urban environment.
A Little Penguin from the St. Kilda colony in Melbourne (Australia's other urban colony)
Image by Richard Fisher / CC BY 2.0
