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Helsinki University Press

The Boar Next Door: Vigilant Fencing in Suburban Berlin

Chapter of: Fences and Biosecurity: The Politics of Governing Unruly Nature

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Metadata
TitleThe Boar Next Door: Vigilant Fencing in Suburban Berlin
ContributorAmalie R. Bladt Jespersen(author)
Annika Pohl Harrisson(author)
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.33134/HUP-30-5
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
PublisherHelsinki University Press
Published on2025-03-26
Long abstractThis chapter delves into the interplay between urban residents, wild boar and the erection of fences in suburban Berlin, Germany. We investigate how residents employ everyday boundary-making practices to protect their homes and gardens from wild boar intrusions, terming this phenomenon ‘neighbourhood vigilance’. These biosecurity measures are aimed not only at ensuring physical safety but also at protecting residents’ ways of life and their sense of ontological security. Conflicts arising from differing desires and aesthetic preferences prompt a re-evaluation of the role of fences in the neighbourhood’s dynamics. In conclusion, the chapter underscores that fences signify more than personal property boundaries; they also illustrate the existence of relationships that need management.
Keywords
  • biosecurity
  • fences
  • suburb
  • Berlin
  • garden fences
  • wild boar
  • security
  • ontological security
  • aesthetics
  • neighbourhood
  • neighbours
  • vigilance
Contributors

Amalie R. Bladt Jespersen

(author)
Independent researcher
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7736-5677

Amalie R. Bladt Jespersen graduated from Aarhus University in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in human security. She did research on Berlin’s suburban wild boar as part of her master thesis. She is now working on rural development for a government institution in Denmark.

Annika Pohl Harrisson

(author)
Department of Political Science at University of Southern Denmark
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7624-2135

Annika Pohl Harrisson is a social anthropologist specializing in state–society relations, borders, environmental politics, and human–nature–animal connections. She earned her PhD from Aarhus University in 2019, focusing on state-making and justice provision in Myanmar. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Border Region Studies, University of Southern Denmark, where she explores the role of borders in the green transition.