Workshop
Commodifying the Wild
09 February 2026, 9:00 – 13:00 (CET)
The workshop Commodifying the Wild focuses on the processes through which marketable objects from the ‘wilderness’ – wildlife, fish and trees – are made, governed, and valorised. At its core, the workshop presents and discusses the case studies of the two sub-projects of the research consortium:
Processes of Commodification and Standardization in Tropical Freshwater Fish Value Chains and S(m)elling the ‘Wild’: The Political Ecology of Arboreal Essential Oils and the Making of Olfactory Resources
The former examines contemporary and historical processes through which ornamental tropical freshwater fish are standardized, classified, and made tradable. It focuses on how ecological variability, and situated practices of capture, breeding, and care are reorganized through categories, and regulatory regimes, enabling comparison, pricing, and circulation across global value chains.
The second thematic focus examines the political ecology of arboreal essential oils in the context of rising global demand and its implications for people, environments, and resource governance. It analyses how trees and its scents are transformed into standardized olfactory resources through extraction, scientific analysis, regulation, and marketization. The contributions trace how sensory experience, scientific knowledge, legal frameworks, and market infrastructures intersect in producing “nature” as a tradable olfactory object, and where social and ecological frictions and limits emerge.
The workshop brings together all ongoing PhD projects from these two research groups and additionally introduces the newest thematic strand: Wildlife hunting across borders: (Il-)legal value chains in conservation areas. This newly added project expands the perspective on cross-border hunting, conservation areas, and contested legalities. Together, we will discuss how value creation, (il-)legality, conservation, and (inter-)national regulation intertwine and what these configurations reveal about the political ecologies and economies of the ‘Wild’.
More information on the projects:
Program:
09:00 – 09:15 Welcome & Introduction
09:15 – 10:45 Session 1 – Tropical Freshwater Fish
10:45 – 11:15 Coffee / Tea Break
11:15 – 12:15 Session 2 – Arboreal Essential Oils
12:15 – 12:30 Presentation – Wildlife Hunting Across Borders
12:30 – 13:00 Final Discussion & Closing Remarks
Venue:
Seminar Room 3.03, Global South Studies Center (GSSC)
Classen-Kappelmann-Straße 24, 50931 Köln
Registration:
The workshop is open to all interested.
