The Absent Agent: Orangutans, Communities, and Conservation in Indonesian Borneo
In a time of unprecedented species loss, whose absence matters in international biodiversity conservation? Who or what is made absent in this process, and how? Drawing on scholarship that focuses on the agency of absence, this article explores how the orangutan (Pongo spp.)—a popular conservation fl...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Conservation & Society |
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| Online Access: | http://www.conservationandsociety.org/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2023;volume=21;issue=1;spage=17;epage=27;aulast=Schreer |
| _version_ | 1797904895553044480 |
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| author | Viola Schreer |
| author_facet | Viola Schreer |
| author_sort | Viola Schreer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In a time of unprecedented species loss, whose absence matters in international biodiversity conservation? Who or what is made absent in this process, and how? Drawing on scholarship that focuses on the agency of absence, this article explores how the orangutan (Pongo spp.)—a popular conservation flagship species—becomes present in Bornean villagers' lives. It offers a new understanding of flagship species action by examining the complex, often unseen relational dynamics through which orangutans influence community-conservation encounters. As the study shows, conservationists' efforts to mitigate the absence of species through a combination of imaginative, discursive, and material variables inadvertently 'absences' Bornean villagers and their concerns. Reflecting on this process of absencing, the paper moreover discusses how notions of absence inform contemporary conservation thought and action. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T09:56:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-246bdf0a43b446a9b147dfe61f02e1ef |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0972-4923 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T09:56:17Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Conservation & Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-246bdf0a43b446a9b147dfe61f02e1ef2023-02-16T12:13:21ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsConservation & Society0972-49232023-01-01211172710.4103/cs.cs_120_21The Absent Agent: Orangutans, Communities, and Conservation in Indonesian BorneoViola SchreerIn a time of unprecedented species loss, whose absence matters in international biodiversity conservation? Who or what is made absent in this process, and how? Drawing on scholarship that focuses on the agency of absence, this article explores how the orangutan (Pongo spp.)—a popular conservation flagship species—becomes present in Bornean villagers' lives. It offers a new understanding of flagship species action by examining the complex, often unseen relational dynamics through which orangutans influence community-conservation encounters. As the study shows, conservationists' efforts to mitigate the absence of species through a combination of imaginative, discursive, and material variables inadvertently 'absences' Bornean villagers and their concerns. Reflecting on this process of absencing, the paper moreover discusses how notions of absence inform contemporary conservation thought and action.http://www.conservationandsociety.org/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2023;volume=21;issue=1;spage=17;epage=27;aulast=Schreerabsenceflagship speciesextinctionorangutan conservationindonesiaborneo |
| spellingShingle | Viola Schreer The Absent Agent: Orangutans, Communities, and Conservation in Indonesian Borneo Conservation & Society absence flagship species extinction orangutan conservation indonesia borneo |
| title | The Absent Agent: Orangutans, Communities, and Conservation in Indonesian Borneo |
| title_full | The Absent Agent: Orangutans, Communities, and Conservation in Indonesian Borneo |
| title_fullStr | The Absent Agent: Orangutans, Communities, and Conservation in Indonesian Borneo |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Absent Agent: Orangutans, Communities, and Conservation in Indonesian Borneo |
| title_short | The Absent Agent: Orangutans, Communities, and Conservation in Indonesian Borneo |
| title_sort | absent agent orangutans communities and conservation in indonesian borneo |
| topic | absence flagship species extinction orangutan conservation indonesia borneo |
| url | http://www.conservationandsociety.org/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2023;volume=21;issue=1;spage=17;epage=27;aulast=Schreer |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT violaschreer theabsentagentorangutanscommunitiesandconservationinindonesianborneo AT violaschreer absentagentorangutanscommunitiesandconservationinindonesianborneo |