Retour sur le colloque « L'animal à l'Anthropocène ». (French)

Report on 'the Anthropocenic animal' conference. (English)

'The Anthropocenic animal' conference, organized by the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Museum of Natural History (MNHN), was held online in December 2020. The purpose of this meeting was to analyze the evolution of utilitarian and affective relationships between humans and animals in the Anthropocene context. This event brought together a wide variety of fields (biology, ecology, archaeozoology, anthropology, history, ethics...). In this report, we first summarize the speakers' presentations which were divided into four thematic sessions: 1) domestication, 2) wild animals between defaunation and rewilding, 3) sentinel animals for global and health risks, and 4) 'knowledgeable' animals. We then revisit three prominent aspects of the conference: the use of the culture concept at the human-animal interface, the uses of the Anthropocene concept during the conference itself, and its effects on interdisciplinarity between the social and natural sciences. This conference productively addressed human-animal interaction issues through different lenses, approaches and time scales, which led to questioning the anthropocentrism of the Anthropocene concept. However, although carrying different connotations for social and natural scientists, the 'Anthropocene' was globally taken for granted, in a Eurocentric view, and its use did not seem decisive in promoting scientific exchanges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Le colloque « L'animal à l'Anthropocène », organisé par le CNRS et le Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, s'est tenu en ligne en décembre 2020. Ce colloque avait pour objectif d'analyser l'évolution des rapports utilitaires et affectifs entre humains et animaux dans le contexte de l'Anthropocène, avec l'ambition de réunir une grande diversité de disciplines. Nous commençons par une synthèse des interventions. Puis nous revenons sur trois aspects saillants du colloque : la mobilisation du concept de culture sur l'interface humain-animal, les usages du concept d'Anthropocène au sein du colloque, ses effets sur l'interdisciplinarité entre sciences sociales et sciences naturelles. Si ce colloque a permis d'aborder les relations humains-animaux à travers différentes approches et échelles de temps, son rattachement à la notion d'Anthropocène n'a pas semblé décisif pour favoriser les échanges scientifiques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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