Dr Nora Schuurman, University of Turku, School of History, Culture and Arts Studies
Funded by the Academy of Finland (years 2018–2023) as an Academy Research Fellow project.
The project Landscapes of Interspecies Care: Working the Human–Animal Boundary in Care Practices (Laica) focuses on human–animal care in 21st century Finland, more specifically everyday practices of care as well as relationships between humans and animals. The perspective is spatial, and the sites include, for example, the places for keeping police dogs and horses, riding schools, and child welfare institutions with animals on site. Companion animal care and transnational animal rescue practices are also investigated. Research questions include: what is good care, who takes care of animals, and what is their knowledge of the individual animals? The analysis focuses on different spaces and multispecies relational networks in the forming of animal care practices, as well as on the ways in which the human–animal boundary is interpreted in these practices. There are also instances included of mutual human–animal care, where animals are expected to care for humans, either because of their specific role or because of their own spontaneous action. The data used consist of interviews and various online materials such as blogs.