Der Faktor Erinnerung

Innerlandwirtschaftliche Perspektiven auf das Verschwinden von multispecies contact zones im Schweinestall

Abstract

English abstract: The article is based on qualitative interviews with conventional farmers who work in the field of intensive livestock farming. It examines intra-occupational experiences and interpretations using the example of the historical development of slatted floor systems for pig rearing. This includes the physical effects on both humans as well as non-human actors. The interviewees’ narratives, reveal the great significance of intraprofessional memory cultures as well as tensions between subjective practical knowledge and animal welfare positions. This is especially visible when contrasted with the experiences of farmers who have shifted to straw bedding. The system in question has developed from stables as multispecies contact zones to an ideal of a hygienic non-contact zone that is as sterile and labor efficient as possible. The focus on the physical aspects within this system reveals one-sided perspectives and rehearsed defensive arguments of a professional group that has felt stigmatized by society for decades. At the same time, it becomes obvious that a deeper scientific examination of the daily work demands of intensive livestock farmers is necessary, that would go beyond the black-and-white divisions often found in discourses on agricultural developments.