The Animals Reader The Essential Classic and Contemporary Writings

by Kalof, Linda; Fitzgerald, Amy

• ISBN13: 9781845204709
• ISBN10: 1845204700
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-03-15
• Publisher: Berg Pub Ltd

Summary

The study of animals - and the relationship between humans and other animals - is now one of the most fiercely debated topics in contemporary science and culture. Animals have a long history in human society, providing food, labour, sport and companionship as well as becoming objects for exhibit. More contemporary uses extend to animals as therapy and in scientific testing. As natural habitats continue to be destroyed, the rights of animals to co-exist on the planet - and their symbolic power as a connection between humans and the natural world - are ever more hotly contested. The Animals Reader brings together the key classic and contemporary writings from Philosophy, Ethics, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Environmental Studies, History, Law and Science. As the first book of its kind, The Animals Reader provides a framework for understanding the current state of the multidisciplinary field of animal studies. This anthology will be invaluable for students across the Humanities and Social Sciences as well as for general readers.

Author Biography

Linda Kalof is Professor in the Dept. of Sociology at Michigan State University. She is author of Looking at Animals in Human History and co-editor of The Earthscan Reader in Environmental Values and the forthcoming major multi-volume works, A Cultural History of Animals and A Cultural History of the Human Body.  Amy J. Fitzgerald is on the faculty in the Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and author of Animal Abuse and Family Violence.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. vii
Prologue: Animals	p. ix
Editorial Introduction	p. xiii
Animals as Philosophical and Ethical Subjects
Introduction	p. 3
The History of Animals	p. 5
Principles of Morals and Legislation	p. 8
In Defense of Slavery	p. 10
Animal Liberation or Animal Rights?	p. 14
The Rights of Humans and Other Animals	p. 23
Moral Status of Animals	p. 30
Becoming-Animal	p. 37
Further Reading	p. 51
Animals as Reflexive Thinkers
Introduction	p. 55
An Apology for Raymond Sebond	p. 57
From the Letters of 1646 and 1649	p. 59
Speaking for Dogs	p. 63
Wild Justice and Fair Play: Cooperation, Forgiveness, and Morality in Animals	p. 72
Grief Sadness, and the Bones of Elephants	p. 91
Orangutan Cultures and the Evolution of Material Culture	p. 104
Further Reading	p. 111
Animals as Domesticates, "Pets" and Food
Introduction	p. 115
The Hunter-Gatherer Prehistory of Human-Animal Interactions	p. 117
Animal Planet	p. 129
Animal Pets: Cruelty and Affection	p. 141
The Eating of Flesh	p. 154
Brave New Farm?	p. 158
The Sexual Politics of Meat	p. 171
The Promotion of "Meat" and its Consequences	p. 182
Further Reading	p. 190
Animals as Spectacle and Sport
Introduction	p. 193
Combats of Elephants	p. 195
On Being Human in the Bullfight	p. 197
Dogfighting: Symbolic Expression and Validation of Masculinity	p. 209
Zoo Spectatorship	p. 219
Hunting and Humanity in Western Thought	p. 237
Further Reading	p. 245
Animals as Symbols
Introduction	p. 249
Why Look at Animals?	p. 251
The Totemic Illusion	p. 262
Animals as Tradition	p. 270
What is the Postmodern Animal?	p. 278
The Illumination of the Animal Kingdom: The Role of Light and Electricity in Animal Representation	p. 289
Further Reading	p. 302
Animals as Scientific Objects
Introduction	p. 305
The Brown Dog Riots of 1907	p. 307
Into the Laboratory	p. 323
Hybrid Geographies: Rethinking the "Human" in Human Geography	p. 336
Dolly's Body: Gender, Genetics and the New Genetic Capital	p. 349
Cyborgs to Companion Species: Reconfiguring Kinship in Technoscience	p. 362
Further Reading	p. 375
Index	p. 377
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