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Books by Marcus Baynes-Rock

Large carnivores are usually studied by biologists in reserves using vehicles, telemetry, and non... more Large carnivores are usually studied by biologists in reserves using vehicles, telemetry, and non-invasive methods. So what happens when a clan of spotted hyenas, Africa’s second largest of carnivores, is studied up close, by an anthropologist, in a city of 100,000 inhabitants? Marcus Baynes-Rock’s very personal story of encounters with hyenas and the people who coexist with them dissolves the space between human and animal so that only subjects matter and personal transformation inevitably follows.

Papers by Marcus Baynes-Rock

Penn State University Press eBooks, Sep 21, 2015

Animal Studies Journal, 2017

Anthrozoos, Sep 1, 2013

ABSTRACT Spotted hyenas and humans often come into conflict where they coexist in the landscape. ... more ABSTRACT Spotted hyenas and humans often come into conflict where they coexist in the landscape. Usually the conflicts involve hyena predation on livestock and retaliatory killings by humans; however, direct attacks on humans by rabid or otherwise healthy hyenas do occur. These in turn compound the problems associated with reconciling protection of hyenas with the needs and safety of humans. This paper was motivated by a series of attacks which occurred in the town of Kombolcha in the Hararge Region of eastern Ethiopia. The attacks and the responses of the local people were an extension of a wider conflict across the region where children are occasionally attacked and hyenas killed. Yet hyenas persist in the region. I suggest here that an understanding of the mechanisms which permit hyenas to coexist with humans in the Hararge region extend beyond food availability and access to breeding sites for hyenas. There is an added dimension which stems from the remnants of a traditional belief system that the local people held prior to conversion to Islam. This entails that hyenas are conceived of as beneficial to the human population due to their propensity to kill and consume unseen spirits, and their capacity to act in accordance with human societal values. As long as the human population does not transgress any boundaries, the hyenas will not have cause to attack them. Meanwhile the hyenas need to restrict their activity times, rely entirely on anthropogenic foods, and refrain from preying on people and livestock. These kinds of detailed explorations of ethno-historical and socio-ecological aspects of human–animal relations can better inform efforts at mitigating human–wildlife conflict in Hararge region and beyond.

Folk-lore, Sep 2, 2015

Abstract In emphasizing equivalences with conceptions of evil eye, accounts of Ethiopian buda und... more Abstract In emphasizing equivalences with conceptions of evil eye, accounts of Ethiopian buda understate the capacity of these beings to transform into hyenas. The case study presented here highlights how this element of the buda belief reveals a social realm that extends beyond the strictly human.

Society & Animals, Mar 8, 2021

In this paper, we draw attention to human-horse relations among the Oromo of West Shewa and the i... more In this paper, we draw attention to human-horse relations among the Oromo of West Shewa and the importance that men in particular ascribe to horses known as farrda mia. These horses are not a distinct breed; they attain their status through a process of selection based on attractiveness and mutual compatibility with their owners. Farrda mia are important in ceremonies, racing, and personal prestige to the degree that they constitute a cognitive affective unity with the men they allow on their backs. The relationships between Oromo men and their horses evoke novel conceptions of identity. Through reciprocal trust, exclusivity, naming, and performance, Oromo men and their horses constitute cognitive, affective centaurs that challenge conceptions of self- contained, self-embodied, human individuals.

Social Science Information, May 14, 2013

The multispecies commons is the kind of place in which human–animal entanglements are made most e... more The multispecies commons is the kind of place in which human–animal entanglements are made most explicit. It is where social, biological and historical processes are so inextricably entwined with wider ecological processes as to be inseparable. Here I describe one such place: the area outside a gate in the ancient, defensive wall around the historic city of Harar, Ethiopia. It was at this place that a solitary, poisoned hyena set in motion a series of events which culminated in a conflict between two hyena clans; a conflict in which the local humans were participants. To gain an understanding of the events I follow the threads of histories, landscapes, territoriality and social engagement between species to reveal how this place demands interdisciplinary study. It dramatically exemplifies the ways in which humans and non-humans are entangled in more-than-social processes through which they co-shape each others’ worlds. The multispecies commons explicitly deconstructs limited conceptions of the social and weaves them back together with multiple other threads that coalesce to create a greater, tangled web of ecological processes.

Zygon®, 2018

Are animals moral agents? In this paper, a theologian and an anthropologist unite to bring the re... more Are animals moral agents? In this paper, a theologian and an anthropologist unite to bring the resources of each field to bear on this question. Alas, not all interdisciplinary conversations end harmoniously, and after much discussion the two authors find themselves in substantial disagreement over the answer. The paper is therefore presented in two halves, one for each side of the argument. As well as presenting two different positions, our hope is that this paper clarifies the different understandings of morality in our respective fields and will help to offset confusion in interdisciplinary dialogue. In what follows, we each present our case. In the first section, Adam Willows argues that moral activity necessarily involves the use of reason, symbolic thought and language and is on that basis an exclusively human affair. In the second, Marcus Baynes-Rock discusses his experience of relationality with other creatures; a relationality which, he argues, creates a shared understanding of obligations which are characteristically moral.

Africa, 2016

ABSTRACTEmploying a theoretical framework developed by ecologist Paul Shepard, I explore here the... more ABSTRACTEmploying a theoretical framework developed by ecologist Paul Shepard, I explore here the ways in which Harari people's representations of spotted hyenas develop in tandem with their ontogenesis. The Harari word for hyena,waraba, takes on different meanings depending on the socialization of Harari individuals and the particular life stages of these persons. In early childhood,warabais a terrifying beast of the imagination. As children mature, their initial conceptions are overturned as they learn that local hyenas are in fact peaceful; it is the hyenas from beyond Harar's borders whom they learn to fear. Throughout and beyond middle childhood, representations of hyenas are employed in folktales, songs, chants and idioms to represent other humans while at the same time reflecting an engagement with the local hyenas. The representations culminate in the conception ofDerma Sheikh: the reliable, protective, religious hyena who shares the same interest in peace and securi...

Between the Species: An Online Journal for the Study of Philosophy and Animals, 2013