Pigeon Trouble: Bestiary Biopolitics in a Deindustrialized America

by Hoon Song

Pigeon Trouble chronicles a foreign-born, birdphobic anthropologist's venture into the occult craft of pigeon shooting in the depths of Pennsylvania's anthracite coal country. Though initially drawn by a widely publicized antipigeon shoot protest by animal rights activists, the author quickly finds himself traversing into a territory much stranger than clashing worldviews—an uncanny world saturated with pigeon matters, both figuratively and literally. What transpires is a sustained meditation on self-reflexivity as the author teeters at the limit of his investigation—his own fear of birds. The result is an intimate portrayal of the miners' world of conspiracy theory, anti-Semitism, and whiteness, all inscribed one way or another by pigeon matters, and seen through the anguished eyes of a birdphobe. This bestiary experiment through a phobic gaze concludes with a critique on the visual trope in anthropology's self-reflexive turn. An ethnographer with a taste for philosophy, Song writes in a distinctive descriptive and analytical style, obsessed with his locale and its inhabitants, constantly monitoring his own reactions and his impact on others, but always teasing out larger implications to his subject.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Dafna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pigeon Trouble raises a bunch of fascinating issues: human-animal relationships, conspiracy theories, whiteness in the deindustrialized US. I applaud the author for choosing the subject of pigeon shooting and doing his fieldwork in a small, provincial, deindustrialized Pennsylvania town among people who seem to largely fall through the cracks of anthropological attention. However, my problem with the book was its unevenness: some parts (e.g. those where Song discusses his experiences in the field, uncovers some paradoxes in people's reasoning, and ties those to larger issues) are gripping, whereas some others read more like a literature review for the author's dissertation.

[Laurel Schuster · Rating 5 out of 5]

why is this book about bird phobia and fascism? unhinged shit i love it

[Ying]

The writing style makes this book difficult to read.

[University of Chicago Magazine]

Hoon Song, AM’93, PhD’00
Author

From our pages (Nov–Dec/10): "An anthropologist with a fear of birds makes his way to a pigeon shoot deep in Pennsylvania coal country, where competitors fire at birds and protesters maintain care centers to rehabilitate or euthanize the victims. The strangeness of the event mingles with a surreal culture of conspiracy theory among the miners (for example, that the federal government, Zionists, the news media, and animal-rights activists aim to destroy “white civilization”), giving Song an opportunity to both explore his own fears and profile a distinct culture in postindustrial America."

[Jason Danely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fun to read. Song grabs you with the first line and takes you on a journey through white America, constantly interfering our understanding, challenging our sensibilities, sometimes making us laugh.