Rewilding is a controversial concept increasingly being offered discursively as a solution to many problems of the so-called Anthropocene. Traditionally, rewilding has been strongly associated with ecological restoration, species reintroductions, and limited human presence and intervention. However, when we examined understandings and practices of rewilding in Scotland, our semi-structured interviews and document analysis drew attention to recent changes in, and the dynamics of, rewilding discourse. These highlighted interactions between calls for ‘repeopling’, concerns over a ‘new Clearances’ and reintroduction conflicts, and drivers for community empowerment and rural economic regeneration, leading to an emerging discourse which emphasized the role of people within rewilding. We identified four important new storylines in Scotland: (i) people are an essential part of rewilding; (ii) rewilding and repeopling are compatible; (iii) rewilding will transform local rural economies; and (iv) animal reintroductions are not essential for rewilding. The dynamics of the discourse were characterised by three features: (a) adaptive organisational positioning in relation to the term ‘rewilding’; (b) floating signifiers and incoherence; and (c) reflexive control of the narrative. Some of the adaptive positioning appeared to be purely rhetorical. There was limited detail or practical evidence of the inclusive participation of people in rewilding decisions, or of a well-developed socio-economic rationale for rewilding. An important challenge for the development of rewilding in Scotland and elsewhere thus relates to how these human dimensions are articulated and realised without compromising the ecological potential of the concept.

Rewilding 是一个有争议的概念，越来越多地被作为对所谓人类世的许多问题的解决方案而被广泛地提出。传统上，野化与生态恢复、物种重新引入以及有限的人类存在和干预密切相关。然而，当我们检查苏格兰对重新野化的理解和实践时，我们的半结构化访谈和文件分析引起了人们对重新野化话语的近期变化和动态的关注。这些强调了“重新安置”的呼吁、对“新清除”和重新引入冲突的担忧以及社区赋权和农村经济复兴的驱动因素之间的相互作用，导致出现了一种强调人们在重新野化中的作用的话语。我们在苏格兰确定了四个重要的新故事情节：(i) 人是野化的重要组成部分；(ii) 重新野化和重新野化是兼容的；(iii) 野化将改变当地农村经济；(iv) 重新引入动物对于重新野化不是必需的。话语的动态具有三个特征：(a) 与术语“重新野化”相关的适应性组织定位；(b) 浮动能指和不连贯；(c) 对叙述的反射性控制。一些适应性定位似乎纯粹是修辞。很少有细节或实际证据表明人们包容性地参与了重新野化的决定，或者重新形成野化的社会经济理由很充分。