Session 2: Living with Animals
Moderator: Thomas Lecuit (Collège de France)
Abstract
Protest movements against government policies on agriculture and the environment often invoke the image of an animal taking revenge for the mistreatment inflicted upon it by humans. I will analyze the emergence of this image through the lens of zoonoses over the past fifty years and epizootics over the last two centuries. Next, I will examine the relevance of using terms from what Philippe Descola calls “animism” to address ecological issues. Finally, I will discuss the implications of a study conducted on “pandemic sentinels” within the “analogist” context of contemporary China, and what this figure of the sentinel makes possible in contemporary social movements.
Frédéric Keck
After studying philosophy at the École normale supérieure in Paris and anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, he conducted research on the history of anthropology and on contemporary biopolitical issues raised by avian influenza. He received the CNRS Bronze Medal in 2012 and served as director of the Research Department at the Musée du Quai Branly from 2014 to 2018.
