The Wake of Crows: Living and Dying in Shared Worlds

287 Pages·2019·17.605 MB·English

by  Thom van Dooren

THE WAKE OF CROWS
CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ANIMALS
CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ANIMALS: THEORY, CULTURE, SCIENCE, AND LAW
Series Editors: Gary L. Francione and Gary Steiner
The emerging interdisciplinary field of animal studies seeks to shed light on the nature
of animal experience and the moral status of animals in ways that overcome the limitations of
traditional approaches. Recent work on animals has been characterized by an increasing
recognition of the importance of crossing disciplinary boundaries and exploring the affinities
as well as the differences among the approaches of fields such as philosophy, law, sociology,
political theory, ethology, and literary studies to questions pertaining to animals.
This recognition has brought with it an openness to rethinking the very terms of critical
inquiry and the traditional assumptions about human being and its relationship to
the animal world. The books published in this series seek to contribute to contemporary
reflections on the basic terms and methods of critical inquiry by focusing on fundamental
questions arising out of the relationships and confrontations between humans and
nonhuman animals, and ultimately to enrich our appreciation of the nature
and ethical significance of nonhuman animals by providing a forum for the
interdisciplinary exploration of questions and problems that have traditionally
been confined within narrowly circumscribed disciplinary boundaries.
The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition or Regulation?, Gary L. Francione and Robert Garner
Animal Rights Without Liberation: Applied Ethics and Human Obligations, Alasdair Cochrane
Experiencing Animal Minds: An Anthology of Animal- Human Encounters,
edited by Julie A. Smith and Robert W. Mitchell
Animalia Americana: Animal Representations and Biopolitical Subjectivity,
Colleen Glenney Boggs
Animal Oppression and Human Violence: Domesecration, Capitalism,
and Global Conflict, David A. Nibert
Animals and the Limits of Postmodernism, Gary Steiner
Being Animal: Beasts and Boundaries in Nature Ethics, Anna L. Peterson
Flight Ways: Life and Loss at the Edge of Extinction, Thom van Dooren
Eat This Book: A Carnivore’s Manifesto, Dominique Lestel
Beating Hearts: Abortion and Animal Rights, Sherry F. Colb and Michael C. Dorf
THE WAKE OF CROWS
LIVING AND DYING IN SHARED WORLDS
Thom van Dooren
Columbia University Press
New York
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup . columbia . edu
Copyright © 2019 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Names: Van Dooren, Thom, 1980- author.
Title: The wake of crows : living and dying in shared worlds / Thom van Dooren.
Description: New York : Columbia University Press, [2019] | Series: Critical perspectives on
animals: theory, culture, science, and law | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019006300 (print) | LCCN 2019008495 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780231544399 (e-b ook) | ISBN 9780231182829 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Crows—E cology. | Human-a nimal relationships.
Classification: LCC QL696.P2367 (ebook) | LCC QL696.P2367 V36 2019 (print) |
DDC 598.8/64— dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2019006300
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-f ree paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design: Milenda Nan Ok Lee
Cover image: Suzanne Dehne / © Getty Images
For Deb, an inspiring teacher and a cherished friend

CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
Introduction
Making Worlds with Crows 1
EXPERIMENTING 25
Chapter One
Interjecting Crows: Enacting Multispecies Communities 31
Brisbane, Australia
STEALING 65
Chapter Two
Spectral Crows: Conservation and the Work of Inheritance 71
The Big Island, Hawai‘i
COOPERATING 95
Chapter Three
Unwelcome Crows: Hospitality in the Anthropocene 103
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
viii
CONTENTS
FUMIGATING 131
Chapter Four
Recognizing Ravens: Becoming Subjects to Each Other 137
Mojave Desert, United States
GIFTING 173
Chapter Five
Provisioning Crows: Cultivating Ecologies of Hope 179
Rota, Mariana Islands
Afterword
In the Wake of Typhoons 215
NOTES 221
REFERENCES 241
INDEX 263
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book has been the primary focus of my thinking and writing for
roughly the past six years. During this time I have undertaken fieldwork in
various parts of the world, had two primary academic homes, and been
fortunate enough to be a visiting fellow and to present this work at a range
of universities. Many people have contributed significantly to this project
and to the book that it has become.
I am sincerely thankful to the colleagues who made the time to read
and provide feedback on draft chapters. This commentary has been invalu-
able and has shaped my thinking profoundly. Particular thanks to Michelle
Bastian, Etienne Benson, Brad Bolman, Veit Braun, Brett Buchanan, Mat-
thew Chrulew, Margaret Cook, Eileen Crist, Thibault De Meyer, Vinciane
Despret, David Farrier, Franklin Ginn, Margret Grebowicz, Donna Har-
away, Matthew Kearnes, Lindsay Kelley, Eben Kirksey, Jean Langford,
Jamie Lorimer, Stephen Muecke, Ursula Münster, Astrida Neimanis, Emily
O’Gorman, Craig Santos Perez, Hugo Reinert, Harriet Ritvo, Deborah
Bird Rose, Isabelle Stengers, and Anna Tsing.
I would also like to thank the many talented PhD and honors students
that I have worked with while completing this book. Our discussions
have often taken me in productive new directions, and I have benefited
immensely from all of your inspiring work: Hélène Ahlberger Le Deunff,