Seagulls: Matter Out of Place or Place Out of Matter?

Christopher Viken (Linguistics)

Abstract

Defining waste beyond its conventional meaning in Mary Douglas's terms "matter out of place", we allow ourselves to talk about seagulls from a waste studies perspective, in which people talk about seagulls as pest animals that do not belong to the urban site. On the other hand, seagulls have over the past few decades migrated from their natural habitats to the urban sites in the ages of ecological crisis in their making of place out of their situation. Although the different seagull species are endangered, they are subjects to stigmatization and violence.

Published Nov. 27, 2023 11:33 AM - Last modified Feb. 5, 2024 11:04 AM