Species: a praxiographic study

TitleSpecies: a praxiographic study
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2015
AuthorsKirksey, Eben
JournalJournal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Volume21
Issue4
Pagination758-780
ISSN1467-9655
AbstractTaxonomists, who describe new species, are acutely aware of how political, economic, and ecological forces bring new forms of life into being. Conducting ethnographic research among taxonomic specialists – experts who bring order to categories of animals, plants, fungi, and microbes – I found that they pay careful attention to the ebb and flow of agency in multispecies worlds. Emergent findings from genomics and information technologies are transforming existing categories and bringing new ones into being. This article argues that the concept of species remains a valuable sense-making tool despite recent attacks from cultural critics.
URLhttps://rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9655.12286
DOI10.1111/1467-9655.12286
Short TitleSpecies