Raf De Bont 🟥

Publication day! Globalizing Wildlife - edited by Tom Quick, @vbateman.bsky.social and yours truly - shows that globalization is not just a human but also an animal affair.

@environment.theguardian.com

This raises so many questions.

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

Guardian Environment

‘Pure arrogance’: anger in Finland as Google illegally fells 250,000 trees for datacentre

theguardian.com‘Pure arrogance’: anger in Finland as Google illegally fells 250,000 trees for datacentreCompany ordered to stop work at two sites in country, which has found itself at forefront of tech firms’ latest push

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

WOinActie.bsky.social

@woinactie.bsky.social

Je verwacht het niet hè. #taxtherich nos.nl/artikel/2633...

nos.nlCoalitie dreigt op onderwijs te bezuinigen als sociale zekerheid niets oplevertZo wordt de druk op D66-minister Vijlbrief opgevoerd om tot bezuinigingen in de sociale zekerheid te komen.

lnkd.inLinkedInThis link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

4 Sept

Recently, I was invited to talk on 2 occasions about Globalizing Wildlife, the book I co-edited with @vbateman.bsky.social and Tom Quick. First, there was a podcast for the New Books Network, where the host is my wonderful colleague Jacob Ward. You can find our conversation here: lnkd.in/e3XuaGxU

nporadio1.nlWaarom is de ene hamster een huisdier, en de andere ongedierte?Waarom werd de Europese hamster in Limburg ooit gezien als een schadelijk plaagdier, en geldt hij nu als een bedreigd icoon van de provincie? Hoe is onze manier van denken over wilde dieren door de ti...

4 Sept

Second, there was an interview on NPO Radio 1’s De Nacht van about the book and my research more generally (in Dutch): www.nporadio1.nl/fragmenten/d...

4 Sept

My explanations were probably a little more chaotic in the latter interview, but I think this can at least partially be attributed to the fact that the interview took place at 4 a.m. (yes, a.m.).

3 Sept

"No French Structuralist could say less in so many words." (Arthur Shapiro in a scathing book review of Fred Urquhart's book The Monarch Butterfly, 1988).

3 Sept

"This is a statistically difficult subject, which Urquhart handles by ignoring statistics altogether." "The book contains numerous errors, some trivial, some significant, all of them annoying." "This is an infuriating book." He really did not like it.

10 July

On my way back from the Tensions in Europe conference Apart from the great talks, I was also charmed by Eindhoven's modernist architecture. Somehow this past futurism makes me a bit nostalgic.

30 June

"Drill, baby, drill!" This graph shows oil production by the three biggest producers. U.S. output has risen almost continuously since the late Bush Jr. years. Trump can be blamed for much worse, but on oil he's more an accelerant than an outlier: the shale boom made higher production bipartisan.

30 June

And, of course, it's not only producers who have a responsibility. The single biggest importer of American oil currently is... the Netherlands.

@georgemonbiot.bsky.social

30 June

Read this wonderful article by @vbateman.bsky.social! About two very differently appreciated #movinganimals

Vanessa Bateman@vbateman.bsky.social

My article about wapiti and red deer in 20th cent New Zealand is out with @animalhistory.bsky.social ! 🦌🚁🏔️ It’s a wild story about colonial animals + technology, trophies + pests, the venison + velvet industry, and hybridity doi.org/10.1525/ah.2... #envhist #animalhist #histech

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

George Monbiot

29 June

Meanwhile, in the US. It just takes your breath away. *50 years* in prison for protesting. Don't imagine for one moment that we are immune to this. Already, the legislative framework is in place in the UK to enable such convictions - before we get a Trumplike PM. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

theguardian.comAlarm over ‘extreme’ sentences for anti-ICE protesters convicted of terrorismFirst amendment groups call 50-to-100-year prison terms chilling as legal experts say sentences unusually long

@michaelemann.bsky.social

22 June

@monicavasile.bsky.social did a great job today defending her PhD thesis 'Saving Species: A History of Wildlife Reintroductions and Recovery' (seen below in the wild). The supervisors are very proud!

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

Michael E. Mann

18 June

An apt metaphor for Trumpism itself

Headquarters@headquartersnews.bsky.social

Clips are going viral of the new $14M paint on the Reflecting Pool peeling off just 12 days after the pool reopened.

18 June

Of course, I knew that 'ethnic' cuisine is usually a combination of lies and lazy stereotypes, but it becomes all the more apparent when the 'ethnicity' involved is your own. 'Flemish' fish and chips?

jstor.org Globalizing Wildlife on JSTOR Humans have always incorporated wildlife into processes of work, capture, and exchange. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, globalization became the ...

18 June

And 'Manneken Pis' as a name? Did this result from a brainstorm between Claude and ChatGPT?

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

Gregg Mitman

@greggmitman.bsky.social

1 June

It was a pleasure to contribute a chapter, "Caring for Chimps as Viral Kin," on the complex relations of care and unequal relations of exchange that developed at Vilab II in Liberia, for this great volume! Open access is available @ www.jstor.org/content/oa_b... #envhist #medhist

Vanessa Bateman@vbateman.bsky.social

*Globalizing Wildlife* is OUT THIS MONTH (!) with @uncpress.bsky.social “An essential and timely intervention… exciting, cutting-edge vantages on crucial global histories” -Daniel Vandersommers Edited by @rafdebont.bsky.social myself, & Tom Quick #animalhist #globalhist #HistSci #envhist

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

adonis (and cait)

@cait.bsky.social

29 May

look at him. he doesn't even have any money

Dutch News@dutchnewsnl.bsky.social

Wolf has little impact on the national economy, say researchers www.dutchnews.nl?p=268424

dutchnews.nlWolf has little impact on the national economy, say researchers

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

Cyrus Mody

@ccmmody.bsky.social

22 May

congrats to @mariellew.bsky.social @hdijkstra.bsky.social & all the other colleagues (oa @danishanley.bsky.social @posteurope.bsky.social Mario Daniels, Miles MacLeod & Guus Dix) involved in this upcoming consortium project on knowledge security: 1/x www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/news/maastri...

maastrichtuniversity.nlMaastricht University researchers lead €6.6 million NWO project on knowledge security

Publication day! Globalizing Wildlife - edited by Tom Quick, @vbateman.bsky.social and yours truly - shows that globalization is not just a human but also an animal affair.

With histories on grey parrot trade, global Przewalski's horse breeding, trans-Atlantic movement of chimpansee blood, and much more!

You can buy your hard copies via the University of North Carolina Press, or consult the book online for free via JSTOR.

Used the occasion of being in the Max Planck institute to visit the imposing Botanical garden nearby.

View full thread

Neatly labeled wilderness!

And in the margins of the exotica, a bit of Heimatgefühl.

Used the occasion of being in the Max Planck institute to visit the imposing Botanical garden nearby.

It has high-tech jungles!

Wonderful experience to discuss a book chapter draft @mpiwg.bsky.social. Really engaged questions and suggestions that will keep me thinking for some time to come.

To my relief, the people hanging around there have nothing of the stern aura of Max Planck (whose bust is still in the hallway).

On a sidenote: the MPIWG also has impressive canteen technologies.

Gretchen Felker-Martin PRE ORDER CHIMERA 2.16.27 🍉

20 May

Outlines of a house (Liège).

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

@scumbelievable.bsky.social

5 May

Man, this is so incredibly cool. www.popsci.com/environment/...

popsci.comMulti-generational vulture nests hold 700 years of human artifactsCrossbow bolts, sandals, slingshots, and more.

4 May

Really happy to see this one materialised — it’s been a real pleasure working on it with @vbateman.bsky.social , Tom Quick, and a wonderful group of contributors. Should be available in print and (OA) electronically by May 26!

Vanessa Bateman@vbateman.bsky.social

4 May

@upittpress.bsky.social currently has a discount of 40% on their books, including my Nature's Diplomats. The discount code is 29INT40, and the landing page is here: upittpress.org/intersection....

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

Helmer Helmers

@helmer.bsky.social

29 Apr

Kan niet helemaal overzien wat hier de gevolgen van zijn maar het zal wel een verkapte aanval op sgw zijn

stemvizier@stemvizier.nl

De motie van René Claassen (#GroepMarkuszower) over de verdeling van publieke onderzoeksfinanciering over wetenschapsgebieden internationaal benchmarken, is aangenomen. (31288-1243) #TweedeKamer [Volledige tekst]

jeugdjournaal.nlColombia wil nijlpaarden van drugsbaas Escobar afschietenBekijk het hele bericht op Jeugdjournaal.nl

20 Apr

I still remember watching the Dutch "jeugdjournaal" as a kid (as there was no Belgian equivalent). Fun to now make a brief appearance there. Particularly when it is for talking about a topic like Pablo Escobar's hippos!

Maastricht University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences@fasosmaastricht.bsky.social

Why are #hippos roaming wild in #Colombia? @rafdebont.bsky.social explains on @nosjeugdjournaal.bsky.social how Pablo Escobar’s former animals spread, and what this means for #ecosystems and safety - making a complex issue clear for a young audience. 📽️ jeugdjournaal.nl/artikel/2610...

17 Mar

Hypothesis: techno-pessimists often travel by train.

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

Petter Hellström

@nphellstrom.bsky.social

27 Feb

ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIP IN HISTORY OF SCIENCE My home department at Uppsala University is advertising an endowed professorship in the history of science. This is the best position in the field in Sweden, and probably in all of Scandinavia. Apply before 30 April 2026. www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nlAssistant Professor Science, Technology and Society StudiesAssistant Professor Science, Technology and Society Studies

26 Feb

Our Faculty kestrel is a beacon of Enlightenment.

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

Letters of Note

@lettersofnote.com

12 Feb

Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

Cyrus Mody

@ccmmody.bsky.social

30 Jan

just a reminder - job opening in STS @fasosmaastricht.bsky.social, deadline February 8

Cyrus Mody@ccmmody.bsky.social

we're hiring in STS @fasosmaastricht.bsky.social! deadline coming up soon (February 8). focus is the social science-y corners of STS preferably w/ some interest in sustainability & environment - but interpreted broadly. vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl/job/Maastric...

Raf De Bont 🟥 reposted

Cyrus Mody

@ccmmody.bsky.social

6 Jan

vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nlAssistant Professor Science, Technology and Society StudiesAssistant Professor Science, Technology and Society Studies