This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.
In this paper I take up the call to expand the boundaries of social and physical landscapes in order to recognise the creative agencies of human and non‐human actors. In doing so, I wish to draw attention to the ways in which relations between both individuals and collectives combine to shape multi‐dimensional sociality in particular places. The place in question is a crocodile farm in tropical Australia. It is a curious place in that it was fostered by modes of objectification which serve to commoditise and conserve crocodiles at a species level with little attention to individuality. However, the particularity of crocodiles at the farming level compels their human handlers to make concessions to their demands. Crocodiles, by their refusals, attachments and individualities, elicit attention to their needs, which translates into practices and structures that are often at odds with profitability. In this way it is as much social processes as it is practicalities of producing skins which affect the farmed landscape and the beings it produces, creating a nexus of multispecies place‐making where individuals matter.
Marcus Baynes-Rock. Precious reptiles: Social engagement and placemaking with saltwater crocodiles. Area 2018, 51, 578 -585.
AMA StyleMarcus Baynes-Rock. Precious reptiles: Social engagement and placemaking with saltwater crocodiles. Area. 2018; 51 (3):578-585.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarcus Baynes-Rock. 2018. "Precious reptiles: Social engagement and placemaking with saltwater crocodiles." Area 51, no. 3: 578-585.
We are in the Anthropocene. For millennia, human actions have been shaping the world to the degree that they are inscribed in the geological and ecological record. Recently, this has been occurring with increasing speed and influence. This means we need to be asking integrative and effective questions about the world and how we relate to and in it. Human niche construction has broad and deep effects not just on landscapes and environments, but on the myriad of other beings sharing space with us. Humans are self-appointed ecosystem managers and lead actors in seeking sustainability for planetary and local ecosystems. In order to accomplish this, we need to better understand how anthromes are shaped, inhabited and altered. To this end, we present two different examples of anthropogenic landscapes; one in Ethiopia and one in Bali, Indonesia. These are landscapes that are co-constructed by multiple species through complex webs of ecologies, economies and histories and represent the way that humans are drawn into relationships with non-humans; relationships which in turn alter landscapes.
Agustín Fuentes; Marcus Baynes-Rock. Anthropogenic Landscapes, Human Action and the Process of Co-Construction with other Species: Making Anthromes in the Anthropocene. Land 2017, 6, 15 .
AMA StyleAgustín Fuentes, Marcus Baynes-Rock. Anthropogenic Landscapes, Human Action and the Process of Co-Construction with other Species: Making Anthromes in the Anthropocene. Land. 2017; 6 (1):15.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAgustín Fuentes; Marcus Baynes-Rock. 2017. "Anthropogenic Landscapes, Human Action and the Process of Co-Construction with other Species: Making Anthromes in the Anthropocene." Land 6, no. 1: 15.
Employing a theoretical framework developed by ecologist Paul Shepard, I explore here the ways in which Harari people's representations of spotted hyenas develop in tandem with their ontogenesis. The Harari word for hyena, waraba, takes on different meanings depending on the socialization of Harari individuals and the particular life stages of these persons. In early childhood, waraba is a terrifying beast of the imagination. As children mature, their initial conceptions are overturned as they learn that local hyenas are in fact peaceful; it is the hyenas from beyond Harar's borders whom they learn to fear. Throughout and beyond middle childhood, representations of hyenas are employed in folktales, songs, chants and idioms to represent other humans while at the same time reflecting an engagement with the local hyenas. The representations culminate in the conception of Derma Sheikh: the reliable, protective, religious hyena who shares the same interest in peace and security as the Hararis. In Harar, representations of hyenas reflect an attention to what hyenas do ‘out there’ in the streets and in the surrounding farmland. They speak of a level of engagement with hyenas as persons: one that is atypical of an ‘urbanized, industrialized’ society.
Marcus Baynes-Rock. THE ONTOGENY OF HYENA REPRESENTATIONS AMONG THE HARARI PEOPLE OF ETHIOPIA. Africa 2016, 86, 288 -304.
AMA StyleMarcus Baynes-Rock. THE ONTOGENY OF HYENA REPRESENTATIONS AMONG THE HARARI PEOPLE OF ETHIOPIA. Africa. 2016; 86 (2):288-304.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarcus Baynes-Rock. 2016. "THE ONTOGENY OF HYENA REPRESENTATIONS AMONG THE HARARI PEOPLE OF ETHIOPIA." Africa 86, no. 2: 288-304.