Papers by Violette Pouillard
This review article surveys selected literature on Congolese history centered on the themes of wi... more This review article surveys selected literature on Congolese history centered on the themes of wildlife management, agriculture, and mining – three key sectors of the (post)colonial economy – and points towards a set of debates that have significance beyond Congo itself. It indicates how the integration of environmental history, social history, and more-than-human approaches renews historical perspectives, methodologies, and narratives. It contends that the analytical categories necessary to grasp the distribution of socio-environmental inequalities must transcend traditional dichotomies between precolonial/colonial/independence regimes, colonisers and colonised, local and global, North and South, nature versus human populations. In this respect, historians must complicate categories concerning environmental uses. Finally, it posits that socio-environmental and more-than-human narratives draw attention to the nature, impact, and historical legacies of human policies, thereby helping us to deconstruct rather than reproduce historically-contingent discourses, paradigms, and categories that have become dominant ever since the colonial era.
Animaux, emprise anthropique et inégalités socio-environnementales Viole0e Pouillard Comme en tém... more Animaux, emprise anthropique et inégalités socio-environnementales Viole0e Pouillard Comme en témoignent les représenta7ons pariétales paléolithiques, les animaux ont de tout temps exercé sur les humains une fascina7on marquée. Celle-ci s'est traduite par des affinités, parfois mutuelles. Ainsi, la domes7ca7on des chiens, première des domes7ca7ons, entamée avant-50.000 ans en Asie à par7r d'un ancêtre commun aux loups et aux chiens, semble résulter au moins en par7e de stratégies évolu7ves et d'opportunités partagées entre communautés humaines et canines. CeHe fascina7on s'est aussi matérialisée par l'exercice d'un contrôle de plus en plus resserré sur les animaux, sauvages et domes7ques, y compris les chiens, à des fins culturelles, religieuses, symboliques, poli7ques, alimentaires, et économiques. Les économies humaines se sont très largement appuyées sur l'exploita7on des animaux, mobilisés pour leur viande, leurs produits, leur peaux, fourrures, plumes, écailles, cornes et défenses, leur force de travail et leur énergie, leur engrais, leur rôle de garde, d'auxiliaire, de compagnon, ou encore comme modèles expérimentaux. Les interroga7ons morales associées au traitement et à la consomma7on des animaux sont très anciennes, comme l'aHestent des textes de philosophes an7ques grecs ou chinois. Toutefois, en Occident et plus largement à un niveau global, l'emprise exercée sur les animaux n'a cessé de s'étendre durant les derniers siècles et décennies, dont témoignent les élevages industriels ou les laboratoires d'expérimenta7on animale. Alors que nombre d'espèces sauvages reculent voire disparaissent, sous l'effet de destruc7ons directes ou de changements portés à leur milieu, les poli7ques de protec7on de la faune elles-mêmes sont marquées par un surcroît de contrôle exercé sur les animaux : dans nombre de réserves naturelles, les animaux sauvages suivis, comptés, voire apprivoisés sont à portée de la main des experts et des touristes, tandis que dans les parcs zoologiques, l'enfermement apparaît comme un dernier moyen de conserva7on. Plusieurs épisodes témoignent des limites de l'emprise exercée sur les animaux. La crise de l'encéphalite spongiforme bovine dite de la « vache folle » des années 1980-1990, provoquée par l'intégraZon de farines animales aux raZons animales et liée, chez les humains, à la maladie de Creutzfeldt-Jakob, témoigne avec d'autres de la mulZplicaZon des crises sanitaires liées aux praZques d'élevage. Des érupZons de maladies zoonoZques-des maladies qui se transme0ent entre animaux et humains comme l'encéphalopathie spongiforme bovine ou la grippe aviaire-, dont les causalités sont de plus en plus associées aux effets de l'emprise anthropique sur les vivants et leurs environnements, ont donné lieu à des aba0ages de masse d'animaux d'élevage. Ces épisodes rappellent que le sort des communautés humaines et nonhumaines est indissociable. Le champ de l'histoire des animaux s'est consZtué à parZr des années 1980 dans un contexte marqué par des interrogaZons croissantes sur la nature et les incidences des relaZons entre humains et animaux. Au sein de ce champ, nombre de travaux d'histoire culturelle se sont penchés sur les usages humains-matériels, économiques, mais aussi symboliques et idéologiques-des animaux. Ils ont aussi porté a0enZon au traitement des animaux, en parZculier au développement de poliZques de protecZon animale et de protecZon de la faune. Ces dernières décennies et années, les historiens ont consacré de plus en plus d'a0enZon à
Interweaving animal, cultural, colonial, and environmental history insights, this synthesis chapt... more Interweaving animal, cultural, colonial, and environmental history insights, this synthesis chapter addresses the long-term evolution of the modern zoo, considered as a microcosm the study of which sheds light on the evolving nature of human-animal relationships. The latter were marked, from the late 18th century onwards, by new forms of wildlife commodification, the development of which intersected with the maturation of modern zoos. However, since their development, moral concerns about the confinement of animals have played a decisive role in (re)framing zoos. From the 1960s onwards, rising criticism induced zoo managers to develop reform programs. The associated development of captive breeding sheds light on the rise of conservationist programs which remain shaped by an understanding of animals marked by extraction and close human supervision, with deep historical roots.
(English translation available)
Interweaving animal, cultural, colonial, and environmental history insights, this synthesis chapt... more Interweaving animal, cultural, colonial, and environmental history insights, this synthesis chapter addresses the long-term evolution of the modern zoo, considered as a microcosm the study of which sheds light on the evolving nature of human-animal relationships. The latter were marked, from the late 18th century onwards, by new forms of wildlife commodification, the development of which intersected with the maturation of modern zoos. However, since their development, moral concerns about the confinement of animals have played a decisive role in (re)framing zoos. From the 1960s onwards, rising criticism induced zoo managers to develop reform programs. The associated development of captive breeding sheds light on the rise of conservationist programs which remain shaped by an understanding of animals marked by extraction and close human supervision, with deep historical roots.
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This article addresses lively debates on animal resistance and agency by relying on a long-term h... more This article addresses lively debates on animal resistance and agency by relying on a long-term history from below of European zoos, paying attention to both their human and animal actors and to the evolving nature of their relationships. This bottom-up, relational perspective leads to a definition of animal resistance as any animal action which challenges the institution’s supremacy, in contrast to definitions insisting on the cognitive abilities of the perpetrators. This broad definition enables the establishing of strong hypotheses regarding the intentionality of the concerned animals of certain species in some well documented cases. It also prevents us from dismissing a priori cases of animal transgressions. Furthermore, the dynamics (or lack thereof) between humans and transgressive animals allows us to unravelling marginalized forms of resistance, such as stereotypic behaviors. Their prevalence in turn invites us to reconsider the nature and power of animal agency in asymmetrical relationships.
Review article
The biographies of animal celebrities published by the historians John Simons a... more Review article
The biographies of animal celebrities published by the historians John Simons and Eric Baratay aim to place animals in and of themselves at the center of academic narratives. Both excavate the lived experiences concealed behind official discourses and collective representations, notably by relying on cross-fertilization with ethological research. They unveil the ways in which information was reshaped in order to portray animal celebrities as benevolent members of human-animal communities, and thereby shed light on the mechanics of animal commodification. The close examination of a few individual animal trajectories enlightens the condition of many historical animals living under human tutelage in the 19th and early 20th century and highlights long-term historical evolutions, such as the succession of animal cultures and generations largely determined by human actions.
Eric Baratay, Nicolas Baron, Clotilde Moreau, Emmanuel Porte, Violette Pouillard, « Humains, animaux, environnements, des influences croisées », L’Homme et l’Animal. L’invention de nouveaux liens, dir. Martine Hossaert-McKey, Frédéric Keck, Serge Morand, Paris, CNRS/Le Cherche Midi, 2021, p. 61-77.
This article elaborates a local history of zoo feeding practices in order to shed light on the co... more This article elaborates a local history of zoo feeding practices in order to shed light on the construction of knowledge at the zoo, its intersection with laboratory developments in life sciences, and the nature of zoo sciences. It relies on the case studies of two of the oldest zoological gardens in the world, both of which formed parts of major scientific institutions, thereby facilitating research on the dialogue between zoo knowledge and life sciences: the Jardin des Plantes menagerie in Paris (1793) and the London Zoological Gardens (1828).
The article argues that zoos developed around an experimental paradigm that consisted of testing upon animals the (nutritional) variables of their survival within a highly constrained institutional framework. The empirical nature of the zoo feeding economy was marked by slow and uneven changes from the interwar, associated with the development of nutritional sciences as well as with internal hygiene, pathology, and veterinary programmes. Despite transfers and networks of people, methods, experiments, concepts, and animals between zoos and life sciences laboratories, the former remained too impure as a research site to act as an extension of the latter. Zoos, however, needed external laboratories to back themselves with the scientific legitimacy that their “biopolitical modernisation” (Chrulew) required. In addressing programmatic changes as well as their impact upon the animals, this paper argues that trial-and-error experiments are constitutive of the zoo, contributing towards the definition of the nature of both zoo management and zoo sciences.
The Jardin des Plantes menagerie was established in the context of the French Revolution in oppos... more The Jardin des Plantes menagerie was established in the context of the French Revolution in opposition to princely and commercial menage- ries. Considered by historians as the first zoological garden, it would become a model, inspiring the foundation of other, powerful institutions, such as the London Zoo (1828). Its designers intended to resolve old tensions regarding the status of wild animals and to build more symmetrical relationships with them. This article aims to shed additional light on this movement, from the revolutionary seizures of animals deposited at the National Museum of Natural History to the construction of the first permanent building erected for the ‘ferocious beasts’ (1818-1821). Taking into account the animal side of history, in line with the recent animal turn, it posits that the designers of the Jardin des Plantes menagerie reinforced precisely the carceral constraints some of them intended to renounce. In so doing, they determined and shaped modes of interacting with nonhuman animals that, ever since, have continued to permeate our relationships with them.
In the midst of the climate crisis and the threat of the sixth extinction, we can no longer claim... more In the midst of the climate crisis and the threat of the sixth extinction, we can no longer claim to be the masters of nature. Rather, we need to unlearn our species' arrogance for the sake of all animals, human and non-human. Rethinking our being-in-the-world as Homo sapiens, this monograph argues, starts precisely from the way we relate to our closer companion species. The authors gathered here endeavour to find multiple exit strategies from the anthropocentric paradigms that have bound the human and social sciences. Part I investigates the unexplored margins of human history by re-reading historical events, literary texts, and scientific findings from an animal's perspective, rather than a human's. Part II explores different forms of human-animal relationships, putting the emphasis on the institutions, spaces, and discourses that frame our interactions with animals. Part III engages with processes of "translation" that aim to render animals' experience and perception into human words and visual language.
Voor meer informatie, een drukproef, recensie-exemplaar of interview-aanvraag, neem contact op me... more Voor meer informatie, een drukproef, recensie-exemplaar of interview-aanvraag, neem contact op met: Toon Van Mierlo, 03 432 98 13 of [email protected] KOLONIAAL CONGO EEN GESCHIEDENIS IN VRAGEN EEN NIEUWE BENADERING VAN DE KOLONIALE GESCHIEDENIS VAN CONGO Over het kolonialisme voeren we vaak een emotioneel debat, met onvolledige kennis van de feiten en van de context. Koloniaal Congo presenteert daarom de huidige wetenschappelijke inzichten en onderzoeksresultaten voor een breed publiek. Een keur aan binnen-en buitenlandse historici biedt aan de hand van concrete vragen een uniek inzicht in de geschiedenis van de Onafhankelijke Congostaat en van Belgisch-Congo. Hoe werkte het autocratische bestuur van Leopold II en wat weten we over de slachtoffers? Hoeveel winst werd er gemaakt in Congo en naar wie ging die? Hoe beleefden Congolese mannen en vrouwen het koloniale bestuur? In welke mate en op welke manieren verzetten Congolezen zich? Wat was de impact van het kolonialisme op de natuur van Congo? Welke gevolgen had het koloniaal beleid voor domeinen als infrastructuur, onderwijs, gezondheidszorg en wetenschap? Gaven missionarissen het kolonialisme een menselijker gelaat? Deze en vele andere vragen maken van Koloniaal Congo een even onmisbaar als onthullend boek. Koloniaal Congo. Een geschiedenis in vragen werd samengesteld door historici Idesbald Goddeeris (KU Leuven), Amandine Lauro (ULB) en Guy Vanthemsche (VUB). Het boek verschijnt ook in het Frans bij Renaissance du Livre. Met bijdragen van
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Papers by Violette Pouillard
(English translation available)
The biographies of animal celebrities published by the historians John Simons and Eric Baratay aim to place animals in and of themselves at the center of academic narratives. Both excavate the lived experiences concealed behind official discourses and collective representations, notably by relying on cross-fertilization with ethological research. They unveil the ways in which information was reshaped in order to portray animal celebrities as benevolent members of human-animal communities, and thereby shed light on the mechanics of animal commodification. The close examination of a few individual animal trajectories enlightens the condition of many historical animals living under human tutelage in the 19th and early 20th century and highlights long-term historical evolutions, such as the succession of animal cultures and generations largely determined by human actions.
The article argues that zoos developed around an experimental paradigm that consisted of testing upon animals the (nutritional) variables of their survival within a highly constrained institutional framework. The empirical nature of the zoo feeding economy was marked by slow and uneven changes from the interwar, associated with the development of nutritional sciences as well as with internal hygiene, pathology, and veterinary programmes. Despite transfers and networks of people, methods, experiments, concepts, and animals between zoos and life sciences laboratories, the former remained too impure as a research site to act as an extension of the latter. Zoos, however, needed external laboratories to back themselves with the scientific legitimacy that their “biopolitical modernisation” (Chrulew) required. In addressing programmatic changes as well as their impact upon the animals, this paper argues that trial-and-error experiments are constitutive of the zoo, contributing towards the definition of the nature of both zoo management and zoo sciences.
(English translation available)
The biographies of animal celebrities published by the historians John Simons and Eric Baratay aim to place animals in and of themselves at the center of academic narratives. Both excavate the lived experiences concealed behind official discourses and collective representations, notably by relying on cross-fertilization with ethological research. They unveil the ways in which information was reshaped in order to portray animal celebrities as benevolent members of human-animal communities, and thereby shed light on the mechanics of animal commodification. The close examination of a few individual animal trajectories enlightens the condition of many historical animals living under human tutelage in the 19th and early 20th century and highlights long-term historical evolutions, such as the succession of animal cultures and generations largely determined by human actions.
The article argues that zoos developed around an experimental paradigm that consisted of testing upon animals the (nutritional) variables of their survival within a highly constrained institutional framework. The empirical nature of the zoo feeding economy was marked by slow and uneven changes from the interwar, associated with the development of nutritional sciences as well as with internal hygiene, pathology, and veterinary programmes. Despite transfers and networks of people, methods, experiments, concepts, and animals between zoos and life sciences laboratories, the former remained too impure as a research site to act as an extension of the latter. Zoos, however, needed external laboratories to back themselves with the scientific legitimacy that their “biopolitical modernisation” (Chrulew) required. In addressing programmatic changes as well as their impact upon the animals, this paper argues that trial-and-error experiments are constitutive of the zoo, contributing towards the definition of the nature of both zoo management and zoo sciences.
Throughout history, humans have formed a variety of relationships with elephants: worshipping them as deities and taming them as beasts of burden ; displaying them as exotic curiosities in zoological collections and training them to perform in circuses ; hunting them for sports and for ivory consumption and trade ; culling them due to human-wildlife conflicts and exhibiting their bodies in museums. Seminal academic works have demonstrated the central role Asian and African elephants played in shaping cultures, economies, and politics. Scholars in the humanities have also enriched social science narratives on multispecies relations by building on the wealth of ethological and life science research on elephants. Such multidisciplinary insights led to greater attention being paid to the subjectivities and agencies of elephants in (re)shaping human geographies and economies. All these works encourage developing further the reflexive perspectives on the construction of more-than-human narratives that integrate pachyderms as historical actors.
This workshop welcomes contributions from humanities and social sciences scholars, as well as from life scientists, with the aim to further develop multidisciplinary research perspectives on the histories of human-elephant relationships from the early modern era to the present day.