Herd/Species
The Institute for Contemporary Critical Thought is pleased to invite you to join us for a serial experiment with and around our theme of Herd.
From March 2026, we will be gathering to collectively think with the figure of the Herd. Led by an eclectic range of thinkers, and provoked by selected readings, each session in this series will experiment with the concept’s many permutations, to rethink Herd as Species, as /The Masses, as /Population, as Kin, and more. Join us, as we spin out in many directions, thinking with the figure of the herd to grapple with not only transformative global changes affecting health, but also, and more broadly, to experiment with new ways of thinking amidst the here-and-now of our present planetary condition.
To begin, on 3 March, Mariam Motamedi Fraser leads a discussion of Herd/Species. Mariam has chosen two of her own pieces for this session (readings will be provided after registration, please read them in this order):
(1) Dog Politics (2024) chapter seven, pages 219-233
(2) Extracts from an article that is currently under review, called ‘Carbon stories: animals and the science and politics of zoogeochemistry’.
Both pieces explore the problems that follow when categories meet living animals (with Haraway’s When Species Meet in mind here), and the challenges of trying to think animals without them. Chapter seven: when species meets dogs, with a very brief reflection on population, herd, shoal, flock, tank, exultation and ostentation. ‘Carbon stories:’ when trophic/functional categories (e.g. herbivore, carnivore) meet any living animal, and the meeting is mediated by maths, rather than biology. One important category that is not discussed at length in either piece is race. For an extended discussion of race and species, please see Motamedi Fraser, M. (2025) ‘The politics of animal time: species, race, and the Anthropocene,’ in Environment and Planning E 8(4): 1389-1407. If anyone wants the full-length draft of ‘Carbon stories,’ please contact Mariam directly on [email protected]. Note that the extract from 'Carbon stories,' chosen for the Herd/Species session, offers a simpler representation of zoogeochemistry than the paper as a whole.
Please join us as the Herd gathers, and make sure to sign up to our mailing list to receive the invitation to subsequent meetings!
The Herd series is shepherded by Kari Lancaster, Marsha Rosengarten, and Nele Jensen.
The event is free, but we will be grateful for your support through a regular or one off donation. Any amount will help us continue creating a space where critical thought and collective inquiry are open and accessible.