CARNAL: Eco-Ethical Articulations of Body, Meat, and Flesh

Through a mix of field studies and more theoretical discussions, the interdisciplinary CARNAL project aims to explore and develop a new ecological ethic, that bridges the gap between nature's 'own voices' and human interests.
Fieldwork in Store Vildmose (Photo by Cecilie Rubow)
Fieldwork in Store Vildmose (Photo: Cecilie Rubow)
The CARNAL project will develop a model that describes the connections and contradictions between three 'ecologies' or ways of perceiving nature: 
 
  1. Nature understood as raw, wild and potentially enchanted place where the ethical task is to hold back allowing nature space.
  2. Nature as something that we as humans must take care of, but where we can and should also develop technologies that contribute to solving the climate crises.
  3. Nature as something we are closely intertwined with because human culture is also part of nature.
 
The project links the three ecologies with three themes under the headings Body, Meat and Flesh – the latter understood as life in a broader and partly theological sense.

 

 

The CARNAL project is a collaboration between researchers from the Department of Anthropology and the Faculty of Theology, University of Copenhagen. 
 

 

Mikkel Gabriel Christoffersen. “Climate Shame: What Is It, Does It Matter, and How Do We Handle It?” Dialog: A Journal of Theology 64:1 (March 2025). https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12875.

Mikkel Gabriel Christoffersen. “Environmental Shame and the Solidarity of Creation Theology”. In Redeeming the Sense of the Universal: Scandinavian Creation Theology on Politics and Ecology, redigeret af Trygve Wyller, Johanna Gustafsson Lundberg, og Niels Henrik Gregersen, 279–92. Research in Contemporary Religion 39. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2025.

Cecilie Rubow: “Three Ecologies in Danish Eco-Theology”. In Redeeming the Sense of the Universal: Scandinavian Creation Theology on Politics and Ecology. Eds. Trygve Wylller, Johanna Gustafsson Lundberg & Niels Henrik Gregersen. Research in Contemporary Religion vol. 37. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2024, 251-263.

Niels Henrik Gregersen. “A Wealth of Resonance and Dissonance: K.E. Løgstrup and Hartmut Rosa”. In Redeeming the Sense of the Universal: Scandinavian Creation Theology on Politics and Ecology. Eds. Trygve Wylller, Johanna Gustafsson Lundberg & Niels Henrik Gregersen. Research in Contemporary Religion vol. 37. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2024, 225-249.

 

Researchers

Name Title Phone E-mail
Search in Name Search in Title Search in Phone
Anders Skou Jørgensen PhD Fellow +4535328447 E-mail
Cecilie Rubow Associate Professor +4535323568 E-mail
Matti Weisdorf Postdoc +4535332039 E-mail
Mikkel Gabriel Christoffersen Associate Professor E-mail
Niels Henrik Gregersen Professor +4535323681 E-mail

Funded by:

CARNAL: Eco-Ethical Articulations of Body, Meat, and Flesh has received funding from THE VELUX FOUNDATION

Project: CARNAL: Eco-Ethical Articulations of Body, Meat, and Flesh
Period: 2024 - 2027

Contact

Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
Phone: +45 35 32 35 68
 
Professor,
Faculty of Theology
Phone: +45 35 32 36 81
Mobil: +45 20 89 11 58