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Short abstract:

In this paper, we attend to the modes of valuing within conservation in the natural history museum in Berlin and in the context of species conservation. We compare these conservation practices in order to assemble different meanings of colonial matters and trace patterns of protection and neglect.

Long abstract:

In this paper we attend to modes of valuing nature in conservation practices and logics, and how these invite thinking on colonial matters. Conservation, “protecting species from extinction”, describes a central practice and commitment in the natural history museum, where physical, digital, and chemical interventions keep specimens from “deteriorating” (further) while the preservation of collections is posited as a moral imperative. Conservation is also about reproducing and keeping endangered animals alive through protected areas, national parks and zoos as well as by means of advanced reproductive technologies. This represents a historical and a global effort that mobilizes research institutions, NGOs, venture capitalists, cell cultures, species boundaries, frozen sperm, guns and gala dinners. In both cases, conservation is posed as a solution to environmental crisis and biodiversity loss and, in both cases, colonial histories continue to shape its political economy. In this paper we compare these conservation practices in order to assemble different colonial matters and trace patterns of protection and neglect. In a first step, we pay attention to how colonial matters become (dis)articulated within conservation regimes. In a second step, we examine the modes of valuing attached to (and generative of) these matters: Who/what is being protected through military personnel? How is digital reproduction and accessibility linked to decolonizing collections? Drawing on our research and experiences in the institutional context of the museum we also reflect on research studying (alongside) colonial matters, focusing on frustration and inheritances.