Bird feeding devices exclude unwelcome visitors. More-than-humans shaping the architecture and technology of birdfeeders in twentieth-century Finland.

Heta Lähdesmäki*, Tuomas Aivelo, Panu Savolainen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

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Abstract

In this article, we investigate the evolution of the birdfeeder and analyze it as a multispecies technology, a technological artefact that has co-evolved between multispecies interactions of humans, the target species of the feeding, and unwanted visitors. We use close reading as a method to examine pictures, design descriptions, photos and text sources published in Finnish magazines and newspapers from the late nineteenth century, when birdfeeders were first discussed, until the late twentieth century, with the aim of analyzing how birdfeeder designs and models have changed in relation to various (and especially unwanted) visitor species. Birdfeeders are visited not only by species that humans want to feed but also by several unwanted visitors, such as birds, mammals, bacteria and the weather. Being inspired by posthumanism and Science and Technology Studies (STS), we ask what the role of unwanted visitors has been as co-designers of technological artefacts, here the birdfeeder. Our article discusses the broader subject of how people welcome or exclude other beings from shared environments. We argue that it is vital for environmental humanities scholars to study artefacts and technology and vice versa, for design studies and STS scholars to examine non-humans. We hope to encourage other researchers to ponder how animals, and unwanted users in general, participate in designing technology and artefacts.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1757-1778
Number of pages22
JournalEnvironment and Planning E: Nature and Space
Volume7
Issue number4
Early online date3 Apr 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2024
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • co-design
  • multispecies technology
  • unwelcome others
  • Bird feeding

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