The text on this slide reads, "Animals-as-food: The term draws attention to the in-between, the rupture between the live subjects of animals and the dead matter of meat through the act of slaughter. By Nora Katharina Faltmann, Landhaus Fellow."

It reads, "The term “animals-as-food” (Staples and Klein 2017) makes visible the connection between animals as living subjects and their discursive and material treatment as food. Animals-as-food further functions as a reminder that the human consumption of animals is neither universal nor unchangeable but rather socially constructed and subject to societal negotiations and changes. The term also draws attention to the in-between, the rupture between the live subjects of animals and the dead matter of meat through the act of slaughter. By Nora Faltmann. Full reference: Staples, James, and Jacob A. Klein. 2016. “Consumer and Consumed.” Ethnos 82 (2): 193–212."

In this #CriticalConcept, Landhaus fellow Nora Faltmann discusses the term "animals-as-food" and why it could be employed more in the #envhum and #foodstudies.

#rccnews #rcccriticalconcepts #rccsocialmedia #concept #food #academia #animals #animalstudies #consumption #rcc #munich #research

The text reads, "Extraplanetary Envirotechnical Regime. 'The regions beyond Earth’s atmosphere are home to natural ecosystems with lively histories that mutually shape and are shaped by histories on the planet below.' by Lisa Ruth Rand, Landhaus Fellow. Rachel Carson Center Critical Concepts."

The text reads, "'Far from an empty void as popularly imagined, the regions beyond Earth’s atmosphere are home to natural ecosystems with lively histories that mutually shape and are shaped by histories on the planet below. From the very start of the satellite age, physical, material, and discursive exchange across porously defined terrestrial boundaries influenced the construction of a messy extraplanetary envirotechnical regime—one in which sometimes conflicting ideologies and technological practices entangled with natural forces in Earth orbit to create a hybrid system sustained by norms of waste and disposability.' by Lisa Ruth Rand, Landhaus Fellow."

Here comes a new #CriticalConcept by Lisa Ruth Rand!

Lisa, currently an RCC Landhaus Fellow, originally discussed this concept in her Lunchtime Colloqium “(Re)Scaling the Planetary.”

#rccnews #rcccriticalconcepts #concept #envhum #space #worlds #academia #munich #research

The text on the graphic reads: "aestheticized dispossession. Aestheticized dispossession captures how contemporary lake rejuvenation projects in Bengaluru often result in the exclusion of marginal communities and the erasure of their everyday practices. Akash Jash, Landhaus Fellow. Rachel Carson Center. Critical Concepts. Image by Irenè Lazarova from Pexels."

“Aestheticized dispossession captures how contemporary lake rejuvenation projects in Bengaluru, framed through discourses of beautification and sustainability, often result in the exclusion of marginal communities and the erasure of their everyday practices. It highlights how environmental restoration becomes aligned with elite urban aesthetics and speculative capital that transforms lakes from socio-ecological commons into commodified, curated public spaces. Rather than reversing degradation, these interventions reproduce new forms of dispossession where the visual promise of ecological care conceals deeper inequalities in access, governance, and urban belonging. Akash Jash, Landhaus Fellow.”

With our new #CriticalConcept, Landhaus Fellow Akash Jash gives a short introduction to 𝘢𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.

#rcccriticalconcepts #rccnews #dispossession #bengaluru #aesthetics

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a ‘roadmap’ for climate justice, which needs a critical reevaluation.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a ‘roadmap’ for climate justice, which need a critical reevaluation: The conflict between social goals of development and ecological goals of climate protection has not been clarified. The cultural aspects are underestimated. They follow the model ‘as in the West, so on Earth.’ They need more awareness of Indigenous knowledge as a key factor of climate resilience. Amitav Gosh’s book Gun Island is a groundbreaking contribution to the ‘Inner Sustainable Goals’: a change of the mental infrastructure regarding our relationship to nature.

We have a new 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 for you: "Earth Shattered Ethics" by Markus Vogt, Affiliated LMU Professor.

You can rewatch the Lunchtime Colloquium on our Youtube channel (link in bio).

#rcccriticalconcepts #rcc #environnement #conservation

Water as a boundary actor: Water connects various social worlds, perspectives, and practices. - Laura Otto

To think of water as a boundary actor according to the framework of Susan Leigh Star's and James Griesemer's concept of boundary objects, we can explore how water connects various social worlds, perspectives, and practices. - Laura Otto

We have a new 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 for you: "Water as a Boundary Actor" by Laura Otto, junior professor at Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg.

You can rewatch the talk she introduced it in on our Youtube channel: lnkd.in/epDDpG8c

#rcccriticalconcepts #rcc #envhum #water #culture

The 2021 mucilage crisis highlighted the delicate ecology of the Sea of Marmara, and led to unprecedented comprehensive measures for the health of Turkey’s inland sea.

‘‘One trouble is better than a thousand advice,’ says one Turkish proverb. The mucilage outbreak in the Sea of Marmara in 2021 taught the value of the marine food web. Through a combination of pollution and climate change, there was a massive explosion of mucilage in the Marmara, the gateway between the Aegean and the Black Sea. Although perhaps one of the initial causes had been overfishing of fish species, including dolphins, in the past. Marine ecosystems rely on their top predators, such as dolphins and whales. Their absence highlights the fragility of the seas and oceans, and the urgency to increase the number of marine reserves worldwide.

We have a new 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 for you: "Marine Mucilage " by Ufuk Özdağ, a visiting scholar at the RCC. She introduced it in her talk on “Why Is Environmental Thinking on the Rise in Turkey.”

youtu.be/SwfQ56lBGPM?...

#rcccriticalconcepts #rcc #environnement #marine #conservation

Militarism is a critical environmental issue. Our current climate crisis is largely fueled by the fossil fuels of war.

Militarism is a critical environmental issue. Our current climate crisis is largely fueled by the fossil fuels of war; the US Pentagon is the single largest institutional carbon emitter on the planet. While we don’t consider militarism as a frame to read the history of art, literature, history, and ecology, how might that lens allow us to engage multi-scalar and multi-species levels of analysis and understanding?

We have a new 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵for you: "Militarism" by Elizabeth Deloughrey, a professor at UCLA, US. She joined us at the RCC to hold the Lunchtime Colloquium with Nakul Heroor.

#rcccriticalconcepts #rcc #environnement #sustainability #fossilfuels

It is the typical green Critical Concepts graphic containing the following text: "The words “landscape” and “environment” are not interchangeable, but the material conditions they refer to are mutually influential and enmeshed in the physical world." A Critical Concept by Karen M'Closkey.

The second slides goes into more detail: “The words “landscape” and “environment” are not interchangeable, but the material conditions they refer to are mutually influential and enmeshed in the physical world. Yet we tend to divide them when we name, map, and model things that are “environment”— ephemera such as rain, mist, fog, and clouds—and things that are “landscape” for example, lakes, rivers, shorelines, and mountains.” A Critical Concept by Karen M’Closkey.

We have new 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 for you: "Mediating Landscapes" by Karen M'Closkey, a guest speaker from the University of Pennsylvania, US. She joined us for a talk in our "On Environment" series.
#rcccriticalconcepts #rcc #critical #concepts #envhum #terminology

on this image, you can see the concept title "mycorrhizal symbioses" and the scholar's name and title: Alison Pouliot, Volkswagen Foundation Visiting Professor

The second image contains the full explanation: The survival of most plants relies on their liaisons with fungi, or mycorrhizas as they’re known. “Mycorrhizas”—literally, “fungus roots”— refers to the mutually beneficial relationships formed between fungus mycelium and the roots of most plants. The fineness and greater length of mycelium gives fungi far more reach than plant roots, accessing pores in soil that roots can’t penetrate. A cache of chemicals makes fungi more proficient at unlocking nutrients in soils and organic matter. In return for the nutrients and water supplied by their fungal partners, plants provide fungi sugars produced through photosynthesis.

New semester, new 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘴!

Today, Visiting Professor Alison Pouliot explains the concept of “Mycorrhizal Symbioses.”

#rcccriticalconcepts #rcc #critical #concept #mushrooms #symbiose #fungi #plants #fauna #envhum