Introducing the mud to the sublime

Mathilda Rosengren (Malmö university) gives a presentation, followed by a discussion with Umut Ozguc (Macquarie University), and questions from participants. William Kutz will be moderating the seminar. The webinar is free of charge.

• Link to webinar: lu-se.zoom.us/j/69983351862

Presentation Topic

Mathilda Rosengren: In this talk, I will present some reflections on how I, in my present and previous research, have made use of post-humanist and more-than-human theories on ontology and agency to make sense of borderland dwellings in multispecies urban landscapes.

The title of the talk derives from Donna Haraway’s critique of Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of “becoming-animal”, with Haraway arguing that their philosophy is one of “the sublime, not the earthly, not the mud”. For Haraway, without this mud – i.e. the ordinary being and everyday interactions between other-than-humans (and sometimes their human companions) – there can be no adequate way of approaching and understanding a world beyond the human.

Here, I draw on my more-than-human urban ethnographies from Germany and Sweden to provide examples of how such muddy, or muddled, relations of entwined everyday actions become meaning-making practices in themselves – outside distinctly human philosophical metaphors, constructed borders or sites of dwelling.

Technical Information

Make sure your version of Zoom is updated before the meeting, that you have a good internet connection, and preferably a headset if you plan to raise any questions or comments during the discussion. Beside above link, you can join the seminar by calling in, please write to Mia Krokstäde at mia [dot] krokstade [at] cors [dot] lu [dot] se (mia[dot]krokstade[at]cors[dot]lu[dot]se) for information about dial-up numbers.

About the series

This is the sixth seminar of the series Dwelling, elsewhere: Comparative-methodological perspectives on borderland inhabitation, arranged by William Kutz and the Öresund Comparative Borderland Research Group, funded by CEMES. For more information about the Öresund Comparative Borderland Research Group, please write to William Kutz at william [dot] kutz [at] cors [dot] lu [dot] se (william[dot]kutz[at]cors[dot]lu[dot]se).