Wednesday 1 May 2013

Book review on wolf conflicts completed - summary here

This night (sic) I finished a book review on the recently published book Ulvekonflikter – en sosiologisk studie [Wolf conflicts - a sociological study]. My review - which might have to be either shortened (in order to qualify as a book review) or rewritten (in order to qualify as a book essay) - is submitted  to the Norwegian academic journal Sosiologi idag [Sociolocy today], on invitation (by guest editor Ragnhild Sollund), and amounts to some 2.500 words as of now.

Full reference to the book reviewed:
Skogen, Ketil, Olve Krange & Helene Figari 2013. Ulvekonflikter – en sosiologisk studie [Wolf conflicts - a sociological study]. Oslo: Akademika forlag.
While being a monograph in form, and (re)written for the occasion, this book envelopes material from a number of already published English language journal articles, etc. I consider it an important contribution in the Norwegian context.


My review includes an English language summary, which reads like this:
Summary The book Ulvekonflikter [Wolf conflicts] summarizes research conducted by the three authors, which is based on interviews with informants in five Norwegian municipalities. The book is well-written – and important. As they stress, the controversy about wolves can only be explained by taking the larger social context into account, and by interpreting everything expressed with regard to wolves in light of central dimensions of conflict and processes of change. Among opponents of the wolf, it is particularly associated with urbanity and an expanding, educated middle class. Unlike in earlier times, contemporary wolf conflicts are predominantly conflicts between people. Ulvekonflikter succeeds in establishing such basic claims while also being nuanced in its presentation in a way that does virtually all stakeholders justice. Through analysis of beliefs there is broad support for as well as beliefs surrounded by controversy, this book provides valuable advice to policy and management. 
Keywords: Wolf management, attitudes to wolves, beliefs about wolves, wolves as symbols, predators, nature view


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