Wool Alliance for Social Agency
Research of the variety of cultural systems associated with wool
In the past weeks I have been visiting wool fairs in The Netherlands. The most interesting so far has been 'Dag van de Wol', hosted by the de Vereniging van Speciale Schapenrassen, (the Association of Specialized Sheep breeds) or VSS. The VSS has registered 50 small breeds, including a large number of very rare …
In the book, 'Un Savoir-faire de Bergers', an interview with older French shepherds about fences illustrates a generational and landscape divide. The use of fencing to keep in sheep instead of taking them to pasture, is what older shepherds say is a loss of 'savoir faire' (expertise). 'Fifteen or twenty years ago, the parents of …
I have recently learned from the book The Shepherd's Life, by James Rebanks, about hefting. As he describes it, in vast mountainous areas, such as in The Lake District, sheep do not wander off because of an inherited sense of belonging to a landscape, passed down 'by their mothers as lambs - an unbroken chain …
Continue reading "Hefting: creating a sense of belonging requiring no fences"
photo: screen shot from lecture of James Rebanks whilst speaking at the 2018 Practical Farmers of Iowa Conference, showing an identification guide for shepherds. (see 51:15 mins) 'Ear notching is part of a culture of sheep marking that started thousands of years ago. A mark tells what sheep belongs to what flock... My hunch is, …
Thus far into my woolly research, I see a material representing a complex system of relations. This complexity is an inspiring one, because if change happens in one node of its system, it would, I suspect, trigger change elsewhere. And if it is positive change, the better. As I am discovering the diverse community encircled …
Wool Alliance for Social Agency 