Breeders and cows in the thickness and acceleration of time. When genetic progress does not wait
Éleveurs et vaches dans l’épaisseur et l’accélération du temps. Quand le progrès génétique n’attend pas
Abstract
The long history of domestic animal breeding has been marked by the ever closer association between technology and economic development. Knowledge of DNA and genomic selection have become the benchmark for genetic progress in dairy cows. Based on an extensive qualitative survey conducted on the Montbéliarde breed in the Jura region, we address this innovation as well as the concept of ‘time’ which, in the absence of ontological status, enabled us to approach the complexity of breeding today. The changes underway illustrate the modern forces of acceleration based on time measurement and life expressed as equations. Acceleration can be explained by the creation of increasingly extensive interdependencies between actors and activities, the pressure of markets and constant innovations. However, on farms, we observe that the times of animals and of humans remain intertwined. Times as lived and narrated by farmers offer other perspectives on the world; they show the indeterminacy of events in the face of a future to be predicted and the multiplicity of lines of life, work, nature and human beings that make up livestock farming. Moreover, in the narratives, hesitations about innovations and job meaning seem to be the last defence against progress and the passage of time. Can these times coexist or does the ever earlier selection of animals, which compresses time, risk taking away the pleasure of the breeder’s work?
La longue histoire de la sélection des animaux domestiques est marquée par l’association toujours plus étroite entre les technologies et le développement économique. Aujourd’hui, la connaissance récente de l’ADN devient une référence incontournable pour la sélection des troupeaux, en particulier des vaches laitières. À partir d’une large enquête qualitative menée sur la race Montbéliarde dans l’arc jurassien, nous interrogeons cette innovation ainsi que le concept de temps qui sans statut ontologique, nous permet de dilater la complexité de l’élevage aujourd’hui. D’un côté, ces changements illustrent fidèlement les nombreux travaux qui démontent les ressorts modernes de l’accélération, mais de l’autre, les pratiques et les mots qui les accompagnent pointent aussi le fait que la durée peut rester à la base des compétences des éleveurs et du sens qu’ils accordent à leur métier.
| Origin | Publication funded by an institution |
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| licence |
