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Conservation Without Nature: The Trouble With In Situ Versus Ex Situ Conservation, Irus Braverman

Journal Articles

Although understudied in academia and mostly unheard of by the general public, the in situ/ex situ dichotomy has shaped — and still very much shapes — the development of the nature conservation movement and its institutional alliances in the last few decades. Latin for “in” and “out” of place, the in/ex situ dichotomy often stands for the seemingly less scientific dichotomy between wild nature and captivity. Drawing on ethnographic engagements with zoo professionals and wildlife managers, this article explores the evolution of the in situ/ex situ dyad in nature conservation, which traverses the worlds of dead and live matter, artificilia …