Abstract

Over the last 50 years, populations of large carnivores such as wolves have been gradually expanding across European landscapes. This comes after the near extinction of many of these predators, which had been heavily persecuted in the previous centuries. How may such trends be explained? In this talk, which is based on one of my empirical PhD thesis chapters, I will first briefly provide an overview of current scientific and other ‘mainstream’ narratives about the decline and comeback of wolves in Italy and Europe. Arguing that present narrations leave out part of the picture, I will then seek to situate historical trends of wolf populations within broader shifts in political economies and assemblages of more-than-human agencies. A re-politization of these narratives allows for a better understanding of human-wolf conflicts and coexistence today. This ultimately brings me to a discussion of how a better recognition of non-human agency alongside significant if not radical shifts in international policy frameworks, including the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy and the World Trade Organisation, could help foster improved human-wolf relations today.