Event Details

Prof Martin Parker from Bristol University will present this OWT research seminar.

The History of the Zoo: Classification and Carnival

Abstract

The zoo is an organization which is constituted by collection and separation. This paper provides a chronological account of the conditions of possibility of the modern zoological gardens, beginning with the cabinet of curiosities, then the landscape park and the menagerie, and finally the carnival and fair. This leads to a discussion of the foundation of the bourgeois zoo in the 19th century, and its contemporary problems. I conclude with some reflections on the strange dialectic between order and disorder that the zoo exemplifies, an organization which is constructed to civilize and contain, but which is always haunted by the financial need for spectacle and the absolute other of the wild non-human.

Bio

Martin Parker works at the School of Management at Bristol University. He writes about alternative organizations and economy. His last few books were 'Life After COVID-19' (Bristol University Press 2020), 'Anarchism, Organization and Management: Critical Perspectives for Students' (Routledge 2020) and 'Shut Down the Business School' (Pluto 2018).

Zoom Link

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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87288349578

Meeting ID: 872 8834 9578