Elephant Modernities: Thinking along blurry lines between humans, elephants and technologies – An interdisciplinary workshop

Hosts
Global South Studies Center (GSSC), the University of Cologne
Rewilding the Anthropocene – A European Research Council Advanced Grant Project

Organizers
Prof. Michael Bollig, Global South Studies Center, University of Cologne
michael.bollig@uni-koeln.de
Emilie Köhler, Doctoral Researcher, Global South Studies Center, University of Cologne
emilie.koehler@uni-koeln.de

Venue: University of Cologne, Germany

Date: January, 28th and 29th 2025

This two-day workshop is dedicated to the topic of elephant modernities and invites experts to discuss
and explore the lifeworlds of African elephants (Loxodonta Africana) in the Anthropocene.

The concept of “elephant modernity,” coined by Dan Smyer Yü, describes the profound changes in the
lives and habitats of elephants in the contemporary era, largely shaped by human activities. This
transformation encompasses various elements such as habitat loss, dwindling elephant populations,
the disappearance of transitional habitats, growing reliance on humans, and the commercialization of
elephants for tourism (Yü 2023). Elephants, with their advanced cognitive and emotional abilities, self-
awareness, and capacity to adapt to human environments, challenge traditional distinctions between
nature and culture, as well as between humans and non-human beings (Locke 2013; Lorimer 2015).
Accelerated by technological advancements, human population growth, and environmental shifts, the
spheres of human and elephant existence increasingly overlap. Elephants have become global symbols
of wildlife, objects of desire, and commodities, as their lives become entwined with the principles of
neoliberal capitalism (Barua 2014; Duffy 2014; Nance 2015). The majestic herbivores face numerous
challenges under human dominion, including captivity-induced distress, post-traumatic stress disorder
resulting from culls or conflicts, and the constant threats of poaching and habitat loss. Nonetheless,
the clever pachyderms also find manifold ways to adapt to modernity: They are able to sniff out
landmines, benefit from human food sources and use modern infrastructure to get water (see for
example Miller et al. 2015; Garstang 2015). To further the discussion on elephant modernities, this
workshop also takes into consideration how the omnipresence of technology in contemporary life has
deeply intertwined with the worlds of elephants. Monitoring tools like GPS collars and camera traps
offer intimate insights into elephant behavior, and make the proboscideans co-creators of envisioned
multispecies landscapes through the data they generate. Concurrently, their agile trunks serve as
inspiration for the design of robotic technologies.

Departing from an understanding that elephants are historical, social and ecological beings, crossing boundaries of human order, this workshop aims to enhance interdisciplinary dialogue to explore the
versatile aspects that constitute elephant modernities in the Anthropocene. Contributions will be
structured around three main topics and mainly focus on the African elephant, who has received less attention in the humanities and social sciences to date:

First, we will focus on elephants and technologies, exploring beneficial and harmful entanglements
between elephants, technologies and humans. Interdisciplinary contributions will focus on the use,
impact and effects of technologies in elephant conservation, but also how elephants contribute to data-
production, technological developments and become part of a digital world.

Second, we will explore environmental changes and how elephants co-adapt to anthropogenic
landscapes. Elephants are confined to designated national parks, cross fences, roads and settlements,
feed on cultivated crops and break water pipelines. Humans, in turn, put up road signs, designate
corridors or drill boreholes to steer elephant movements. Here, we aim to understand how elephants
live in and co-shape anthropogenic landscapes.

Third, we will focus on elephant cultures. Elephants are known to be socially complex, smart and
emotional animals whose cultures are yet to be fully understood but experience rapid change (Poole
and Moss 2008). Trophy hunters impact elephant’s social structures by shooting mainly old bulls,
elephant culls and war leave deep, long-lasting emotional traumas in elephant societies and new
generations of elephants get raised in sanctuaries or zoos where they develop “bicultural” identities
(Bradshaw 2009; Stoeger et al. 2012). In this part we will discuss changes in elephant cultures and how
a better understanding thereof can enable new ways of coexistence.