CARNAL: Eco-Ethics of Body, Meat and Flesh 

English version

Three ways of perceiving nature

The project will develop a model that describes the connections and contradictions between three 'ecologies' or ways of perceiving nature:

Nature understood as raw, wild and potentially enchanted place where the ethical task is to hold back allowing nature space.

Nature as something that we as humans must take care of, but where we can and should also develop technologies that contribute to solving the climate crises.
Nature as something we are closely intertwined with because human culture is also part of nature.

The project links the three ecologies with three themes under the headings Body, Meat and Flesh – the latter understood as life in a broader and partly theological sense.

Under the first theme, 'Body', the project will explore lessons learnt from the ethical debates that have arisen after the introduction of wildlife parks in Denmark, where animals are rewilded, but also look at the broader relationship between humans and domestic animals.

The second theme, 'Meat', centres on food and meals. In collaboration with the large retailer COOP and two folk high schools visited by young people, the researchers will look at the production, sale and consumption of more climate-friendly and green food from farm to fork. Among other things, theologians and anthropologists will examine young people's views on food and the phenomenon of 'meat shaming'.

Finally, the third theme, 'Flesh', examines human solidarity towards the shared materiality of life as a theological theme, which is simultaneously unfolded in the form of a resonance-based ethics concerning interactions between humans and nature, as well as its inherent conflicts.