Synopses & Reviews
The pigeon is the quintessential city bird. Domesticated thousands of years ago as a messenger and a source of food, its presence on our sidewalks is so common that people consider the bird a nuisanceandmdash;if they notice it at all. Yet pigeons are also kept for pleasure, sport, and profit by people all over the world, from the andldquo;pigeon warsandrdquo; waged by breeding enthusiasts in the skies over Brooklyn to the Million Dollar Pigeon Race held every year in South Africa.
Drawing on more than three years of fieldwork across three continents, Colin Jerolmack traces our complex and often contradictory relationship with these versatile animals in public spaces such as Veniceandrsquo;s Piazza San Marco and Londonandrsquo;s Trafalgar Square and in working-class and immigrant communities of pigeon breeders in New York and Berlin. By exploring what he calls andldquo;the social experience of animals,andrdquo; Jerolmack shows how our interactions with pigeons offer surprising insights into city life, community, culture, and politics. Theoretically understated and accessible to interested readers of all stripes, The Global Pigeon is one of the best and most original ethnographies to be published in decades.
Review
"Colin Jerolmackand#8217;s book is a wonderful celebration of the ways some people interact with pigeons."
Review
"I gladly assert that this innovative monograph belongs to theand#160;small and excellent body of work that carries urban ethnography into the twenty first century,and#160;and this is no small feat at all."
Review
"This is a scholarly but highly accessible account ofand#160;some of the ways in which human beings interact with pigeons. Jerolmack draws on an impressive breadth of ethnographic researchand#160;conducted across several years and three continents, and constructsand#160;a sustained theoretical argument calling for the integration of studiesand#160;of human-animal interaction into the sociological canon, and polemicising convincingly with anthropocentric as well as natureromanticisingand#160;accounts of the relationship between human beings andand#160;the natural world."
Review
". . . In New York, hundreds ofand#160;people casually toss chunks of bagel or pizzaand#160;crust at feral pigeons; others carry whole bags ofand#160;bread to feed them with, despite long-standingand#160;efforts by ciry officials to discourage theand#160;practice.and#160;In The Global Pigeon, his ethnography ofand#160;human-pigeon encounters, Colin Jerolmackand#160;makes an imaginative and convincing caseand#160;against interpreting any of these activities as 'driven by a singular deep-seated need toand#160;connect to nature', as environmental scholarsand#160;persuaded by the biophilia hypothesis might."
Review
andquot;
The Global Pigeon combines detailed and sustained observation of the kind ordinarily focused on one research site with a global reach and fieldwork done in a variety of places, all over the world. The overall result is an intellectually satisfying book that helps us see complexity where we wouldn't have otherwise, and gives us interesting reading about a world of interaction that goes on around us all the time.andquot;
Review
andquot;
The Global Pigeon effortlessly straddles the literature on urban community and environmental sociology, as well as speaking to debates about identity and identity-formation and the literature about race, ethnicity, and inequality. Its ability to bridge different literatures will, I think, make it extremely widely read and probably widely imitated.andquot;
Review
and#8220;This is the most important book yet written about human and animal interaction. It is full of surprising discoveries. Colin Jerolmack shows why the topic is important: it reveals what it is like to be human.and#8221;
Review
"This book makes veryand#160;enjoyable reading due to its well-balanced combinationand#160;of vivid ethnographic prose and jargon-freeand#160;theoretical interpretation. It is highly recommendedand#160;for lecturers and students in anthropologyand#160;interested in urban ethnography, humanand#8211;animaland#160;relations, and cultures of masculinity."
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-211) and index.
About the Author
Colin Jerolmack is assistant professor of sociology and environmental studies at New York University.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Experiencing the City through the Quintessential Urban Bird
Part 1: The Pedestrian Pigeon
1 Feeding the Pigeons: Sidewalk Sociability in Greenwich Village
2 and#8220;Do Not Feed the Pigeonsand#8221;: Cultural Heritage and the Politics of Place in Venice and London
Part 2: The Totemic Pigeon
3 New Yorkand#8217;s Rooftop Pigeon Flyers: Crafting Nature and Anchoring the Self
4 The Turkish Pigeon Caretakers of Berlin: Primordial Ties in a Migrant Community
5 Joeyand#8217;s Brooklyn Pet Shop: Cosmopolitan Ties in a Changing Urban Landscape
Part 3: Deep Play
6 The Bronx Homing Pigeon Club: Nature, Nurture, and the Enchantment of and#8220;the Poor Manand#8217;s Horse Racingand#8221;
7 South Africaand#8217;s Million Dollar Pigeon Race: Rationalizing and Globalizing and#8220;the Pigeon Gameand#8221;
8 Conclusion: Changing Ecologies
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index