Is the imaginary of rewilding anti-technological?

Résumé En

This communication questions the very notion of sociotechnical imaginaries, defined by Jasanoff as “collectively held, institutionally stabilized, and publicly performed visions of desirable futures, animated by shared understandings of forms of social life and social order attainable through, and supportive of, advances in science and technology” (Jasanoff and Kim, 2015) by applying it to the notion of rewilding. This notion, originated in the field of conservative biology (especially ecosystem management), but deeply discussed in environmental ethics and policies, seems indeed contradictory with the definition of technological imaginary. If the rewilding of nature appears desirable for many citizens around the world, this desirable future is not attainable nor supportive of advances in science and technology, but rather discourage or prohibit any use of science and technology.Without tackling the ethical or environmental issues behind this notion of rewilding, this communication aims to show that this contradiction is only apparent: giving up domestication and leaving nature alone appears, contrary to the arguments of its proponents, as the latest or even the final manifestation of the enterprise of domestication of nature started thousands of years ago by the human species, as it is a whole ecosystem which is domesticated. In that sense the notion of sociotechnical imaginary is still relevant.