BITS Faculty Publications
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Item Can bulls be cyborgs? unmaking the logics of dispensability(Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024) Haris, SusanI had come to study wild boars in Wayanad in Kerala in 2023 because I had heard that wild boar-human conflict is increasing. Since Wayanad is a fertile terrain, agriculture is the mainstay of the people; however, increasing agricultural activity has caused habitat degradation, forcing animals to venture into human habitations in search of food. The same could not be said about the cows that belonged to the hostel I stayed in. There were nine cows in total—seven cows and two calves who demanded my equal attention every day. Both calves were, unfortunately, male, and it was disconcerting to know that their fate was predetermined, even though they were young, affectionate and curious about the world. Since they were going to be slaughtered, they did not even receive the dignity of names. The absence of names indicated their foreclosed fate. This essay explores the status of bulls in contemporary India, questioning whether they can be regarded as posthumanist creatures or cyborgs. It critically examines the potential of a posthumanist sensibility in framing them as taurine subjects. In doing so, it challenges the traditional binary narrative that confines their existence to either artificial insemination or slaughter.Item Wayanad’s Makara Dragon(Taylor & Francis, 2024-05) Haris, SusanI wrote this poem after visiting a Jain temple in Sultan Bathery during my fieldwork on human- wild boar conflict in Wayanad, Kerala. Sultan Bathery was the ammunition centre (Sultan: king; battery: ammunition store) for Tipu Sultan, of Kingdom of Mysore when he invaded Wayanad in the 18th century. Jain philosophy is renowned for its nonviolent approach to living with animals, and Wayanad, a forested district in Kerala, has seen human-wildlife conflict escalate over the last few years. My poem explores this juxtaposition. The Jain temple had several animal figures, the most important being the makara, who is the protagonist of the poem. The makara is a mythical dragon-like creature seen in Jain temples, believed to embody a good soldier because they possess the best attributes of several animals. As human-wildlife conflict continues to rise, social and print media report daily about the destruction of human property and provide detailed accounts of human loss and suffering. What do animals think of coexistence? This poem poeticises animal subjectivity, even as they are trapped in hierarchies of power and stone in historyItem The disasterification of human–wildlife conflict: policy implications and ethical considerations(Taylor & Francis, 2025-06) Haris, SusanHuman–wildlife conflict (HWC) is increasingly recognized as a critical socio-political issue in Kerala, South India. In response to the rise in HWC, the Kerala government classified it as a state-specific disaster, a move that significantly impacts wildlife conservation efforts and policy development. “Disasterification” or designating situations as disasters to mobilize emergency measures and administrative responses alter management and response strategies, often leading to negative outcomes for either wildlife or people. There are administrative and financial benefits of declaring human–wildlife conflict (HWC) as a disaster. However, there are also important ethical considerations, including anthropocentrism and the influence of disasterification on public perception and policy responses toward wildlife conservation and coexistence. Disasterification often portrays any human–wildlife interaction as dangerous, leading to extreme measures against wildlife deemed aberrant.