Paper short abstract:

In portrayals of the social/animal, the wolf is always the outsider.In an earlier paper, I gave thought to the fact that wolves, like ourselves, are social creatures. In this paper, I would like to explore the respect in which they are political creatures too.

Paper long abstract:

In portrayals of the social/animal, the wolf is always the outsider. Almost always alone, an unwelcome intruder, the wolf, it seems, carries the burden of recreating the social by demonstrating first society's abiding vulnerabilities and then its conclusive triumph and reconstruction through the use of lethal force. This, at least, is the European mythic form. In an earlier paper, I gave thought to the potentially significant change to our ideas of the social that might derive from taking seriously the fact that wolves, like ourselves, are social creatures. In this paper, I would like to explore the respect in which they are political creatures too. In the United States, where wolves in the lower 48 were hunted to extinction by the middle of the 20th century, federal protections and reintroductions have allowed wolf populations to recover. In addition, new technologies of observation have provided the basis for the formation of individuated narratives. These are the stories wolves could tell of their lives and, in some cases, of their many wanderings as individuals and as groups. This in turn has set the stage for political conflicts about and around them; conflicts that often deploy political activity, including legislation, lawsuits, referenda and rhetoric - of both hostile and amiable intent, that is not unlike that used to shape relationships to other "outsiders".