Human-animal studies is an interdisciplinary field that explores the spaces that animals occupy in human social and cultural worlds. It examines the interactions humans and animals have with each other and the ways animal lives intersect with human societies. Since existing social orders rely on the exploitation of animals to serve human needs, the questions posed by human-animal studies touch upon a wide range of fundamental issues.
Animals and Society provides a broad overview of this rapidly growing field. Margo De Mello offers students and scholars a holistic and comprehensive picture of the state of inquiry into the relationships that exist between humans and other animals. She considers interactions between animals and humans in social organizations, such as the family, the legal system, and political and religious institutions. A major focus is the social construction of animals in world cultures and the way in which these social meanings are used to reinforce and perpetuate hierarchical human relationships such as racism, sexism, and class privilege. The book also examines how different human groups construct a range of identities for themselves and for others through animals.
This second edition of Animals and Society is fully updated and expanded throughout, enhancing the book’s relevance for student and activist readers alike. It includes many new international examples, all-new case studies, and updated supplementary readings.
Table of Content
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I: Constructing Animals: Animal Categories
1. Human-Animal Studies
2. Animal-Human Borders
3. The Social Construction of Animals
Part II: Using Animals: Human-Animal Economies
4. Animals “in the Wild” and in Human Societies
5. The Domestication of Animals
6. Display, Performance, and Sport
7. The Making and Consumption of Meat
8. The Pet Animal
9. Animals and Science
10. Animal-Assisted Activities
Part III: Attitudes Toward Animals
11. Working with Animals
12. Violence to Animals
13. Human Oppression and Animal Suffering
Part IV: Imagining Animals: Animals in Human Thought
14. Animals in Symbol and Art
15. Animals in Religion and Folklore
16. Animals in Literature and Film
Part V: Knowing and Relating to Animals: Animal Behavior and Animal Ethics
17. Animal Behavior Studies and Ethology
18. The Moral Status of Animals
19. The Animal Protection Movement
20. The Future of the Human-Animal Relationship
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Margo De Mello is assistant professor in the anthrozoology program at Carroll College. She directed the human-animal studies program at the Animals and Society Institute for fifteen years. Her many books includeMourning Animals: Rituals and Practices Surrounding Animal Death (2016).
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