Human-Animal Relations Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

2025

This research examines contemporary performance as a framework of engagement with the nonhuman world. It investigates how artists are using performance strategies in artistic contexts to more ethically encounter nonhuman animals,... more

This research examines contemporary performance as a framework of engagement with the nonhuman world. It investigates how artists are using performance strategies in artistic contexts to more ethically encounter nonhuman animals, challenging anthropocentric relations that perpetuate speciesism and other interconnected forms of human oppression. This ethical enquiry examines power imbalances in human-animal relationships, advocating for a new approach to ethics that addresses these inequalities. From an intersectional feminist perspective particularly informed by posthuman / new materialist feminist thought and Black feminism, this thesis proposes that contemporary performance can serve as a site to enact an ‘interspecies feminism’: a non-anthropocentric ethics of difference-in-relation, grounded in affirmative practice. This argument is predicated on the premise that how ‘we’ relate across species-difference is becoming increasingly urgent in the context of overlapping social and environmental crises. Employing a performance ethnography methodology in conjunction with feminist theory, this thesis performs a feminist posthuman cartography (Braidotti 2019a, 2019b), mapping the dynamic forces of power (entrapment and empowerment) in situated human-animal relationships. Through the analysis of a diverse selection of artist case studies engaging with actual animals in performance, thisresearchasks:whatstrategiesarecontemporaryartists exploringforamoreethical inclusion of animals in interspecies performance practices? How are contemporary artists navigating and negotiating shifting power dynamics (entrapment and empowerment) through interspecies performance? How might contemporary performance contribute to an interspecies feminism - an intersectional and non-anthropocentric feminist ethic inclusive of nonhuman animals? Presented in three ‘acts’ – On Land, At Sea and Of Air – this research interrogates how each case study uses performance approaches to inhabit interspecies relations otherwise. This includes land art collaborations with draft animals (Ruth K. Burke); dancing with wild dolphins (Dolphin Dance Project); singing with humpback whales (Michaela Harrison); swimming with jellyfish Norway (Elly Vadseth); and performing falconry (Raja’a Khalid).

2025, Bruxelles en Mouvement

Comme dans d’autres milieux urbains, l’existence des martinets noirs à Bruxelles est menacée par la transformation du bâti dans lequel ils nichent. Des riverain·es tentent de leur faire une place et façonnent des relations de voisinage... more

Comme dans d’autres milieux urbains, l’existence des
martinets noirs à Bruxelles est menacée par la transformation
du bâti dans lequel ils nichent. Des riverain·es
tentent de leur faire une place et façonnent des relations
de voisinage avec ces oiseaux, dans une ville pétrie
de rénovations. De quoi sont faits ces apprentissages ?
Quels dilemmes et émotions suscitent-ils ?

2025, Aeon Magazine

Prehistoric humans didn’t create art and architecture out of nothing. They took inspiration from the nonhuman world.

2025, Frontiers in human dynamics

2025

The smallest dwarfed elephants of Mediterranean islands occurred in Sicily during the Middle Pleistocene. First described by Busk (1867) on remains of Malta, Elephas falconeri was considered for more than fifty years as the last step of a... more

The smallest dwarfed elephants of Mediterranean islands occurred in Sicily during the Middle Pleistocene. First described by Busk (1867) on remains of Malta, Elephas falconeri was considered for more than fifty years as the last step of a progressive size reduction process, which started with Elephas antiquus and continued through ?Elephas (Palaeoloxodon) antiquus leonardii, E. mnaidriensis and ?Elephas melitensis. Actually, stratigraphic and geochemical data have demonstrated that the dwarfed forms were older than the medium-sized elephants of the E. mnaidriensis group, so the derivation of so-called ‘E.’ falconeri from E. antiquus is not sure. There are no conclusive osteological evidences for this; on the one hand the skull exhibits paedomorphic features and it is strongly modified in comparison with the Elephas antiquus skull, on the other hand the very simplified molar morphology does not exclude a phylogenetic relationship with the Palaeoloxodon line. However, the tusk morphol...

2025, Roczniki Kulturoznawcze

This issue poses, once more, the centuries-old question: "What is art?" and invited respondents to answer this question either from the perspective of the "creator" or the "recipient" of art. We were invited to answer a question about... more

This issue poses, once more, the centuries-old question: "What is art?" and invited respondents to answer this question either from the perspective of the "creator" or the "recipient" of art. We were invited to answer a question about "the essence of art", and to specify the position from which we write in terms of this creator-recipient duality. Conventionally and controversially for some of us, providing essential definitions of art (as well as normative evaluations and ontologies of art) has been a task that the Western philosophy of art has assumed for itself. Philosophy has conceived its task as defining the properties which can and cannot be assigned to art as a phenomenon in ways that some have critiqued as an authoritarian gesture. 1 The project of this journal issue invites other voices into this definitional practice: gathering a "variety of responses from very different people who interact with art in different ways". This is a welcome gesture towards a greater inclusivity; to perform art's philosophy otherwise. However, my starting point is to speculate towards a further extension or mutation of this gesture. My starting point is the provocation -both playful and serious -that we need to invite nonhuman animals into this questioning too. We, human animals, need to find ways to ask nonhuman animals what art is or, better, what art might become. "What happens to standard human definitions of art when nonhuman animals are the creators and recipients, artists and audiences?"

2025, Roczniki Kulturoznawcze

The presented statement is part of the volume it covers a variety of responses from people who interact with art in different ways. The aim is to suggest to the participant of the contemporary world a new, personal perspective to rethink... more

The presented statement is part of the volume it covers a variety of responses from people who interact with art in different ways. The aim is to suggest to the participant of the contemporary world a new, personal perspective to rethink what is this area of our world that we label with art; thoughts with and without theoretical suggestions - reflections by the creators and reflections by the audience, teaching humility and uniqueness, perhaps - forming a fresh perspective on art.

2025, Biblical Interpretation

How might kinship help us think about animals in the Bible, and, conversely, how can the Bible help us think about animal kinship? I propose that the concept of kinship can help us take next steps in Animal Studies in the Bible. After... more

How might kinship help us think about animals in the Bible, and, conversely, how can the Bible help us think about animal kinship? I propose that the concept of kinship can help us take next steps in Animal Studies in the Bible. After defining kinship and reviewing work on human-animal studies, I turn to animal-animal kinship, the "mutuality of being" that animals share not with humans but with each other. I focus on the four "animal family" laws of the Pentateuch and the so-called humanitarian rationale that has dominated interpretation of them. Pointing to problems with that rationale, I turn to rabbinic reception of these laws in the Mishnah, which, I argue, takes a very different approach that deserves our attention. I close with scientific and source critical perspectives, along with reflection on the real-life stakes of attending to the Bible's animal families.

2025, Animals and Religion

Studies of animals and religion tend to look at kinship between humans and animals more than kinship among animals. This contribution is about religion’s abiding concern for the families that animals themselves make, with a focus on the... more

Studies of animals and religion tend to look at kinship between humans and animals more than kinship among animals. This contribution is about religion’s abiding concern for the families that animals themselves make, with a focus on the Hebrew Bible, and how that concern might speak to us today. Four laws in the Bible address animal families: Do not cook a kid in their mother’s milk; a newborn animal must remain together with the mother for the first week of life; do not slaughter an animal and their child on the same day; shoo away the mother bird before taking her eggs or chicks from the nest. Rabbinic interpretation largely rejects the most common understanding of these laws, which is to foster compassion for animals. By using the same language for animal and human families and requiring a public declaration of animal relations, the late ancient rabbinic work called the Mishnah offers a different path for acknowledging animal families. The recognition of animal families by the Bible and its readers can inspire a vegan utopianism that aims for all intimate relations to thrive, both human and animal.

2025, The Journal of Religion

2025, Biblical Interpretation

2025

Moving beyond debates about the ethics of animal consumption to focus on animals' intimate lives, Beth A. Berkowitz examines the contribution of religious traditions and sacred texts to contemporary conversations about animals. Reading... more

2025, Meanings of Pain

Abstract The biomedical literature on animal pain is thin, despite widespread reliance on animal models in pain medicine. The International Association for the Study of Pain distinguishes sharply between nociception and pain. Pain, says... more

Abstract The biomedical literature on animal pain is thin, despite widespread reliance on animal models in pain medicine. The International Association for the Study of Pain distinguishes sharply between nociception and pain. Pain, says the IASP, is "always subjective" and "always a psychological state." It traffics with meaning. This essay distinguishes human pain from the pain of animals and concludes that animal pain is largely unknowable: an instance of the otherness of the other. Biases against racial and ethnic minorities demonstrated in the undertreatment of pain suggest that dismissive attitudes toward animal pain reflect wider anthro-pocentric and biomedical difficulties in responding to otherness. The difficulties of understanding animal pain would advise caution in clinical applications of research based on animal models. It also suggests—in a speculative conclusion —that we will not effectively address human pain until we have already adequately addressed the other-ed pain of animals.

2025, Cadernos do Tempo

A tauromaquia no Barreiro. Uma figura: Armando Soares A história da tauromaquia ou da corrida de toiros no Barreiro remonta ao século XVIII e foi nessa tradição que nasceu no Barreiro o matador de toiros Armando Soares

2025, YAZIT Journal of Cultural Sciences

In this study, I critically examined conventional ethnographic approaches that have, since the 19th century, overlooked the agency of non-human animals, using ethnographic field data I gathered in an equestrian club. At the same time,... more

In this study, I critically examined conventional ethnographic approaches that have, since the 19th century, overlooked the agency of non-human animals, using ethnographic field data I gathered in an equestrian club. At the same time, while exploring the possibilities of conducting a multispecies ethnography, I traced anthropocentrism through the spatial arrangements and language-based classifications humans apply to horses. This research emerged as part of my one-year undergraduate thesis project. I spent approximately five to six months actively in the field, during which I conducted participant observation, interacted with around 70 individuals within the club environment, and carried out 18 in-depth interviews. The entire process was conducted with the approval of the relevant ethics committee. In the field, I evaluated human actions and discourses as data, while also striving to include the interactions of horses with the space, with humans, and with their own kind. Throughout the research process, I also questioned how my own exist-ence as a human might affect the study, how far the boundaries of reflexivity could be expanded, and whether being human might create barriers in a multispecies ethnograph-ic study. Through the observations presented at the end of this study, I aimed to offer a critical perspective on earlier ethnographic works and contribute to the development of a more sensitive reflexivity against anthropocentrism in future research.

2025, Alzahra University

The most prominent manifestation of animal motifs in the history of art in the Ancient Near East up to the flourishing period of Safavid art can be observed in visual arts and crafts. The widespread use and remarkable similarities of... more

The most prominent manifestation of animal motifs in the history of art in the Ancient Near East up to the flourishing period of Safavid art can be observed in visual arts and crafts. The widespread use and remarkable similarities of animal motifs in the Kashan carpets and the Shahnameh of Tahmasp during the Safavid period reinforce the hypothesis that the natural world may have been conceived as a powerful source of political legitimacy for the Safavid rulers.
This article aims to present a mythological interpretation of animal motifs in Kashan carpets and the Shahnameh of Tahmasp in order to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between authority and legitimacy within the Safavid political system, and its connection to the art and culture of this period. The central research questions are as follows:
What relationship can be established between mythological notions of power and the depiction of animal motifs in Kashan carpets and the Shahnameh of Tahmasp during the Safavid era? What thematic and visual similarities exist between the animal motifs of the Kashan carpets and those in the Shahnameh of Tahmasp, considering their contemporaneity, and do how they differ?
This study applies a qualitative, historical-analytical method with a comparative approach. The findings reveal that the Safavid rulers attempted to reinterpret and recontextualize animal myths by incorporating them into various art forms such as manuscript illumination and carpet weaving, thereby embedding them within the structures of political power.
Accordingly, the use of similar animal motifs in the Kashan carpets and the Shahnameh of Tahmasp can be seen as a deliberate engagement with mythological narratives to produce and reproduce essentialist notions of Safavid political legitimacy. The considerable similarities in the use of animal motifs in these works suggest that the Safavids, through symbolic mythological imagery, endeavored to reflect the worldview of political power discourse within Iranian art and culture

2025, Animals

There is increasing recognition of the importance of human–animal interaction (HAI) research in the assessment of animal welfare. This is partly reflected by the appearance of increasing animal–visitor interaction (AVI) publications in... more

There is increasing recognition of the importance of human–animal interaction (HAI) research in the assessment of animal welfare. This is partly reflected by the appearance of increasing animal–visitor interaction (AVI) publications in zoos. Early AVI publications primarily focused on primates and the impact of visitors on animals (visitor effects), with most identifying negative welfare impacts. This review aims to identify trends and changes in the key factors of AVIs (e.g., types of interactions measured; taxa studied; welfare impact). Covidence software and PRISMA were used to screen papers and extract data. A total of 157 papers comprising 314 studies were included. AVI publications have increased in the last two decades, with a large increase in publications since 2020. Most publications have focused on visitor effects, as opposed to the impact of animals on visitors (visitor experiences). Earlier visitor effect studies mostly focused on primates, while more recent studies have primarily focused on non-primate species. Excluding studies categorized as neutral, there were more visitor effect studies with measures focused on negative than positive welfare impacts. However, the last decade and a half has seen a substantial increase in visitor effect studies measuring positive welfare impacts. These results are discussed in reference to growing changes in the types of studies, species, and outcomes measured in AVIs. In addition, we consider the future of AVI research, including a growing need for and consideration of standardized welfare assessments, the increased use of experimental control, and AVIs that equally promote visitor education and positive animal welfare.

2025, Österreichische Zeitschrift Für Soziologie

Ausgangspunkt des Sammelbandes sind für die Herausgeberinnen die dramatischen Bedeutungsveränderungen des Fleisches: Aus einem begehrenswerten Lebensmittel mit hohem sozialem Prestige ist ein vieldiskutiertes gesundheitliches, ethisches... more

Ausgangspunkt des Sammelbandes sind für die Herausgeberinnen die dramatischen Bedeutungsveränderungen des Fleisches: Aus einem begehrenswerten Lebensmittel mit hohem sozialem Prestige ist ein vieldiskutiertes gesundheitliches, ethisches und ökologisches "Problem" geworden. Der Band hat insgesamt 466 Seiten mit 19 Beiträgen von Autor_innen verschiedener Disziplinen: Agrar-, Umwelt-, Ernährungs-und Kulturwissenschaften, Regionalforschung, Philosophie, Geografie, Soziologie. Sie sind an Hochschulen wissenschaftlich tätig, aber auch an privatwirtschaftlichen Einrichtungen für Forschung, Entwicklung, Beratung und Politik. Leider offenbart sich dies erst nach eigenen Recherchen, da das ansonsten übliche Autor_innenverzeichnis fehlt. Im ersten Themenblock wird ein kritischer Blick auf die ethischen Konflikte der Fleischerzeugung gerichtet. Bernhard Hörning macht anhand landwirtschaftlicher Statistiken deutlich, dass die Mehrheit der Nutztiere immer häufiger in immer größeren Beständen unter intensiven Bedingungen gehalten werden -mit schädigenden Folgen für Tiergesundheit, Tiergerechtigkeit und Ökologie. Susanne von Münchhausen, Andrea Fink-Keßler und Anna Härting stellen die Ergebnisse einer internationalen Fallstudie dar, die zeigt, wie es landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben trotz mancher Widrigkeiten gelingen kann, sich jenseits industrieller Massenfleischproduktion am Markt mit einer alternativen ökologisch und ethisch wertebasierten Fleischerzeugung zu etablieren. Nora Klopp und Franz-Theo Gottwald diskutieren ethische Aspekte des Umgangs mit Schweinen. Dazu gehören Fragen der Zuchtethik, der Haltungsethik, der Transport-und Schlachtethik, der Arbeitsethik und der Verbraucherethik. Erstaunlich ist, dass bei der Problematisierung der Arbeitsbedingungen in Fleisch-Lotte Rose ( )

2025, Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie

Ausgangspunkt des Sammelbandes sind für die Herausgeberinnen die dramatischen Bedeutungsveränderungen des Fleisches: Aus einem begehrenswerten Lebensmittel mit hohem sozialem Prestige ist ein vieldiskutiertes gesundheitliches, ethisches... more

Ausgangspunkt des Sammelbandes sind für die Herausgeberinnen die dramatischen Bedeutungsveränderungen des Fleisches: Aus einem begehrenswerten Lebensmittel mit hohem sozialem Prestige ist ein vieldiskutiertes gesundheitliches, ethisches und ökologisches "Problem" geworden. Der Band hat insgesamt 466 Seiten mit 19 Beiträgen von Autor_innen verschiedener Disziplinen: Agrar-, Umwelt-, Ernährungs-und Kulturwissenschaften, Regionalforschung, Philosophie, Geografie, Soziologie. Sie sind an Hochschulen wissenschaftlich tätig, aber auch an privatwirtschaftlichen Einrichtungen für Forschung, Entwicklung, Beratung und Politik. Leider offenbart sich dies erst nach eigenen Recherchen, da das ansonsten übliche Autor_innenverzeichnis fehlt. Im ersten Themenblock wird ein kritischer Blick auf die ethischen Konflikte der Fleischerzeugung gerichtet. Bernhard Hörning macht anhand landwirtschaftlicher Statistiken deutlich, dass die Mehrheit der Nutztiere immer häufiger in immer größeren Beständen unter intensiven Bedingungen gehalten werden -mit schädigenden Folgen für Tiergesundheit, Tiergerechtigkeit und Ökologie. Susanne von Münchhausen, Andrea Fink-Keßler und Anna Härting stellen die Ergebnisse einer internationalen Fallstudie dar, die zeigt, wie es landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben trotz mancher Widrigkeiten gelingen kann, sich jenseits industrieller Massenfleischproduktion am Markt mit einer alternativen ökologisch und ethisch wertebasierten Fleischerzeugung zu etablieren. Nora Klopp und Franz-Theo Gottwald diskutieren ethische Aspekte des Umgangs mit Schweinen. Dazu gehören Fragen der Zuchtethik, der Haltungsethik, der Transport-und Schlachtethik, der Arbeitsethik und der Verbraucherethik. Erstaunlich ist, dass bei der Problematisierung der Arbeitsbedingungen in Fleisch-Lotte Rose ( )

2025, „Zoophilologica. Polish Journal of Animal Studies” Nr 1 (15)/2025

The Left and Animals: Tracing Critique This article attempts a preliminary exploration of the relationship between a broadly understood leftist and progressive thought and the ideas of animal rights, along with the demands of pro-animal... more

2025, Journal of human sciences

Animal-assisted intervention is an intervention method that is shaped on the basis of humananimal relationships and is defined as the use of animals to solve people's problems. The use of animal support, especially in integrated... more

Animal-assisted intervention is an intervention method that is shaped on the basis of humananimal relationships and is defined as the use of animals to solve people's problems. The use of animal support, especially in integrated interventions, is becoming increasingly widespread throughout the world, with the effect of scientific evidence. This method can also be used as a social work intervention in disadvantaged groups such as victims of violence, children at risk, victims of trauma, prisoners, elderly people, and people with disabilities. However, there is no study on the use of this intervention in the field of social work in our country. Therefore, the aim of this study is to present a review of the use of animal-based interventions in social work practice, which has been proven in various studies to have positive effects in improving, developing and maintaining physical, psychological and social well-being. In order to reach this aim, the historical process, definition and benefits of animal-assisted therapy and animal-assisted intervention are emphasized. Later, the theoretical foundations of the animal-assisted interventions, their use in social work interventions and the role of social workers in these team work required interventions are revealed. Hayvan destekli müdahale insan-hayvan ilişkisi temelinde şekillenen, insanların problemlerini çözme amacıyla hayvanların kullanımı olarak tanımlanan bir müdahale yöntemidir. Bilimsel kanıtların da etkisi ile özellikle bütüncül müdahalelerde hayvan desteğinden yararlanma, tüm dünyada giderek yaygınlaşmaktadır. Bu yöntem, şiddet mağdurları, risk altındaki çocuklar, travma mağdurları, mahkumlar, yaşlılar, engelliler gibi dezavantajlı gruplarda sosyal çalışma müdahalesi olarak da kullanılmaktadır. Bununla birlikte ülkemizde sosyal çalışma alanında bu müdahale hakkında herhangi bir çalışma bulunmamaktadır. Bu nedenle bu çalışmanın amacı, fiziksel, psikolojik ve sosyal sağlığın iyileştirilmesi, geliştirilmesi ve korunmasında olumlu etkileri çeşitli araştırmalarla kanıtlanmış olan hayvan destekli müdahalenin sosyal çalışma uygulamalarında kullanımına ilişkin bir derleme sunmaktır. Bu amaca ulaşabilmek için, önce hayvan destekli tedavi ve hayvan destekli müdahalenin tarihsel süreci, tanımı ve yararları üzerinde durulmuştur. Daha sonra hayvan destekli müdahalelerin teorik çerçevesi, sosyal çalışma müdahalelerinde kullanımı ve ekip çalışması gerektiren bu müdahalelerde sosyal çalışmacıların rollerinin ne olduğu ortaya konmuştur.

2025, Heritage

The small scale is recognized as a necessary rebuttal to macroscalar narratives of climate-society relationships in the past, and archeologists and historians have increasingly turned to advocating smaller and shorter scales of analysis... more

The small scale is recognized as a necessary rebuttal to macroscalar narratives of climate-society relationships in the past, and archeologists and historians have increasingly turned to advocating smaller and shorter scales of analysis and interpretation, from "microclimates" to interannual droughts and single settlement histories. Such provocations rightly caution against the dangers of oversimplification and determinism in recent planetary or Earth-systems approaches to human history, as well as push scholars to acknowledge human-scale experiences: weather, seasonality, landscape change. When it comes to smaller-scale remains, however, like those of household practices, we often consider them data or proxies that validate larger-scale arguments about societal persistence or economic vulnerability. Yet the material and ideational ways that people in premodern worlds made sense of their surroundings, especially via gendered and class-based rhythms of production and consumption, were deeply entwined in the politics of everyday household life. What would a household archeology of climate entail? In this paper I highlight how households themselves were critical sites of environmental construction, experience and history-making through a selection of examples of archeological work from the Mediterranean. I argue that archeologists can critically rethink themes of persistence and adaptation by taking seriously the scalar constructions and varied politics of domestic life.

2025, Interspecies Relations in Children´s Cultures

This study analyses the interspecies relationship between Sally Jones, a gorilla, and her human companion, the Chief, in three novels by Jakob Wegelius, focusing on this dynamic relationship and how it reframes the narrative. The research... more

This study analyses the interspecies relationship between Sally Jones, a gorilla, and her human companion, the Chief, in three novels by Jakob Wegelius, focusing on this dynamic relationship and how it reframes the narrative. The research explores three main questions: the modes of interspecies communication, the core elements of their companionship and how their mutual dependency subverts notions of human supremacy. The theoretical framework integrates perspectives from human-animal studies, including Donovan's critique of speciesist ideologies that separate human and animal communication (2017), Haraway's concepts of mutual dependence (2003) and contact zones (2008) in interspecies relations and Derrida's carnofallogocentrism, which interrogates anthropocentric hierarchies (2002). Methodologically, the study employs close reading of the texts paying attention to details in the texts, based on the research questions, theories and previous research, analyzing verbal and non-verbal communication between Sally and the Chief, as well as their interdependent relationship. Findings reveal that their companionship is rooted in mutual respect and understanding, transcending human-animal hierarchies. This relationship critiques notions of human supremacy, as the Chief and Sally navigate their lives as equals, disrupting conventional ideas of ownership and superiority, as well as species and societal boundaries and fostering empathy for 'the Other'. The study contributes to the broader discourse on interspecies relationships, showing how narratives can shape ethical understandings of human-animal relations and potentially reshape perceptions of human-animal relationships in children's literature.

2025, Zoophilologica. Polish Journal of Animal Studies

The interview with Eva Meijer that Dariusz Gzyra and Patryk Szaj conducted considers the political aspects of relationships between humans and non-human animals. It aims at reconsidering “the political” along with other animals (in... more

The interview with Eva Meijer that Dariusz Gzyra and Patryk Szaj conducted considers the political aspects of relationships between humans and non-human animals. It aims at reconsidering “the political” along with other animals (in contrast to speaking simply “about” animal politics.) In the course of the interview, the following issues are raised: the political turn in animal studies, the progressive development of animal studies over the years, non-human languages and their role in political participation, the advantages and disadvantages of liberal democracy when it comes to interspecies politics, the “from the ground up” method in political theory, the political task of literature, the role of political parties and other institutions in a systemic change, animals as working-class members, the entangled empathy that, perhaps, involves not only sentient animals but also non-sentient beings.

2025, International Journal of Disaster Risk Management

This study examines the challenges posed by stray dogs in urban Bangladesh, focusing on societal attitudes, public health risks, and policy responses within the framework of disaster risk reduction. Stray dogs, often marginalised in urban... more

This study examines the challenges posed by stray dogs in urban Bangladesh, focusing on societal attitudes, public health risks, and policy responses within the framework of disaster risk reduction. Stray dogs, often marginalised in urban settings, represent a critical intersection of public health, animal welfare, and urban vulnerability to zoonotic disease outbreaks. Using qualitative methods, this research examines public perceptions of stray dogs, with a focus on rabies as a public health concern. It evaluates the effectiveness of the Animal Welfare Act of 2019. Findings reveal a dichotomy in public attitudes: while many view stray dogs as a health threat, others recognise their ecological roles. Despite legislative efforts, persistent issues such as inadequate shelter, weak law enforcement, and limited public awareness continue to hinder effective management. The study highlights the importance of developing integrated strategies that balance public health concerns with animal welfare, emphasising community resilience, sustainable urban planning, and preparedness for zoonotic disease outbreaks. Recommendations include enhanced public education, humane management practices such as mass vaccination and sterilisation, and stronger policy enforcement to mitigate risks and improve coexistence. This research contributes to the broader discourse on disaster risk reduction by highlighting the role of animal welfare in urban resilience and public health security.

2025, Diogène

How does intensive cage farming remain stable despite the long-standing and recurrent challenges it faces ? Many elements of this system provide it with robustness, and have already been studied; this paper focuses on the fact that the... more

How does intensive cage farming remain stable despite the long-standing and recurrent challenges it faces ? Many elements of this system provide it with robustness, and have already been studied; this paper focuses on the fact that the existence and identity of the dominated themselves (here, the “farmed animals”) is historically constructed. By analyzing the history of caging techniques applied to laying hens, this article shows that the “laying hen” identity is the result of a technical and social construction, and was subsequently naturalized, in order not only to increase productivity and reduce resistance, but also to install a dependence relationship. By way of hypothesis, domination (emprise) is here defined as the stabilization of a systemic domination by means of constructing a dominated identity.

2025, Dibur

This paper examines several medieval kabbalistic texts unified by their foundational engagement with the doctrine of cosmic cycles-a doctrine that views creation as a series of seven worlds formed and destroyed in succession, culminating... more

This paper examines several medieval kabbalistic texts unified by their foundational engagement with the doctrine of cosmic cycles-a doctrine that views creation as a series of seven worlds formed and destroyed in succession, culminating in the eschaton. In the late thirteenth-century expression of this doctrine, situated between Spain and Byzantium, kabbalists depict the natural characteristics of each world or cosmic cycle. A particular focus on the animals within these cycles reveals an ontology of being that disrupts traditional definitions of animals and humans, redefines and blurs animal-human relations, and ultimately envisions a reality in which animals assume the role of kabbalistic masters. By analyzing this kabbalistic portrayal of animals, the study proposes the possibility of remapping the key trends in medieval kabbalah and highlights the relevance of these ideas to contemporary discussions in posthumanism, animal-human studies, and the environmental humanities. a (marginal) kabbalistic reading of animals: revisiting the doctrine of cosmic cycles

2025, The Brain is the Screen (ed. Gregory Flaxman)

Deleuze and the Cinema of West Africa DUDLEY ANDREW ... nomads are in fact people who don't want to move on, don't want to leave, who cling to the land taken from them, their region centrale ... -Gilles Deleuze 1 If one were to take the... more

Deleuze and the Cinema of West Africa DUDLEY ANDREW ... nomads are in fact people who don't want to move on, don't want to leave, who cling to the land taken from them, their region centrale ... -Gilles Deleuze 1 If one were to take the Academy Awards and the Cannes film festival the way the newspapers do, one would believe that standard cinema is in good health. Global action pictures (Independence Day), more artistic passion pictures (The English Patient), and their perfectly stewed combination (Titanic) have appeared on screens around the world, firing the universal imagination the way cinema has since Griffith. These two types of cinema, which might be termed first and second cinema, seem to defy predictions that the century's end also spells the end of this century's mass art. Still, those tracking aesthetic and social developments realize that the "soul of cinema" (to use Gilles Deleuze's manner of isolating what is crucial in the medium) 2 moved beyond Hollywood, the first cinema, by World War II, and by 1975 passed beyond the alternative second cinema. The "soul of cinema"what the cinema at any given moment permits those devoted to it to think-is on the move, and has moved elsewhere. Let's follow it... Deleuze's categorical elaboration of the powers of film involves one, and only one, historical break. Drawing on Andre Bazin's intuitive sense of cinematic development, Deleuze takes World War II to have utterly reconstituted cinema's cultural significance, and at all levels, from the kinds of films made to the way they were produced, exhibited, and discussed. After the war, the "classical" era, in which a stable studio system had mastered "movement-images" ceded the "soul of cinema" to the modernism of Japanese and European auteurs, the most worthy of whom fashioned "time-images." Ideally, 215

2025, Yearbook of the Faculty of Law "Iustinianus Primus"

проф. д-р Јасна Бачовска Недиќ 1 АСПЕКТИ НА КЛАСИЧНАТА СОЦИОЛОШКА ТЕОРИЈА ЗА РЕЛИГИЈАТА -ПРИЛОГ КОН ПРАВОТО НА ВЕРОИСПОВЕД ВО РЕПУБЛИКА СЕВЕРНА МАКЕДОНИЈА Резиме Во времето на социјализмот државата еднострано ја одредуваше природата на... more

проф. д-р Јасна Бачовска Недиќ 1 АСПЕКТИ НА КЛАСИЧНАТА СОЦИОЛОШКА ТЕОРИЈА ЗА РЕЛИГИЈАТА -ПРИЛОГ КОН ПРАВОТО НА ВЕРОИСПОВЕД ВО РЕПУБЛИКА СЕВЕРНА МАКЕДОНИЈА Резиме Во времето на социјализмот државата еднострано ја одредуваше природата на својот однос кон црквата, верските заедници и верските слободи и права, условно кажано тоа беа општества без религија на "едно видливо ниво" 2 . Државата беше во позиција на радикален секуларизам. 3 Академскиот, 1 Редовна професорка на Правниот факултет "Јустинијан Први", Универзитет "Св. Кирил и Методиј" во Скопје. 2 Проценката на обемот на секуларизација во едно општество е многу комплициран процес, бидејќи во обѕир се земаат неколку димензии на промените: бројност на членството во верските организации; општествениот статус на верските организации; и религиозноста на поединецот. Иако влијанието на религијата недвосмилено опаѓа, религијата не е во опасност од исчезнување, туку и понатаму ги соединува и разединува луѓето во модерниот свет. Entoni Gidens, Sociologija, Beograd, 2005, стр. 577. 3 Терминот "секуларизам" е творба на Џорџ Џејкоб Холиок (англиски филозоф) од 1846. Во најчестото световно значење, со него се изразува спротивност на воспоставување на државна црква или фаворизирање на една наспроти други религии. Зборот потекнува од латинскиот збор secularis што значи светско, нешто што не е верско. Секуларизмот прераснал во движење со основна цел одвојување или минимизирање на значењето на религијата во јавниот живот. Секуларното општество би се темелело на научна слика, доминација на науката и филозофијата во однос на религијата. Во една социолошка смисла секуларизацијата е процес во модерните општества кога религиозните практики, верувања го губат општественото значење. Во основа секуларизмот има две групи застапници. Првите се на став за одвојување на верата од јавниот живот и верата ја сметаат за приватна работа. Другите се застапници на т.н. радикален секуларизам и значи потполно негирање на верата, сметаат дека нема место за вера во јавниот живот. Радикалниот секуларизам ги омаловажува верските чувства, а религијата ја смета за назадна и ретроградна категорија. Секуларизмот како општествен проект на 19 и 20 век има противници особено во религискиот фундаментализам. Секуларизмот или водење на световен живот, втемелен на разум и искуство има свои интелектуални основи во хуманизмот, ренесансата, рационализмот, емпиризмот и просветителството.

2025

This paper argues that Gurmat-a term denoting the ontological teachings embedded within the Sikh scriptural tradition-is frequently misclassified as a religion or form of spirituality. Through a critical examination of the epistemological... more

This paper argues that Gurmat-a term denoting the ontological teachings embedded within the Sikh scriptural tradition-is frequently misclassified as a religion or form of spirituality. Through a critical examination of the epistemological foundations of religion, pseudo-spirituality, and modern spirituality, this article asserts that Gurmat is more accurately situated within the tradition of ontological mysticism. Drawing on key passages from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and supported by comparative scholarship in the fields of mysticism, religious studies, and consciousness studies, this paper contends that Gurmat constitutes a science of consciousness, rooted in experiential knowledge (Anubhav), ego-transcendence, and the realization of non-dual Being. Recognizing Gurmat as mysticism reorients its significance beyond sociological or anthropological categories, offering a radical framework for understanding the self, reality, and liberation.

2025, Mitteilungen des Fachverbandes Philosophie

Die Debatte über individuelle Verantwortung für strukturelle Ungerechtigkeit wurde stark von Iris Marion Youngs Konzept der Verantwortung aus sozialer Verbundenheit geprägt, das auf der Idee beruht, dass Personen durch ihre Teilhabe an... more

Die Debatte über individuelle Verantwortung für strukturelle Ungerechtigkeit wurde stark von Iris Marion Youngs Konzept der Verantwortung aus sozialer Verbundenheit geprägt, das auf der Idee beruht, dass Personen durch ihre Teilhabe an strukturellen Prozessen eine geteilte politische Verantwortung für Gerechtigkeit tragen. Young identifiziert vier Parameter – Macht, Privilegien, Interesse und Kollektivfähigkeit – um die Unterschiede in der Art und dem Grad der Verantwortung festzustellen, die verschiedene Akteure für strukturelle Ungerechtigkeiten tragen. Jedoch stellen sich Probleme bei der Einlösung dieser Verantwortung, die rollen- und machtbasierte Ansätze versuchen zu lösen.

2025, blog of the Vienna Animal Studies Group, June 3 2025

Carlo Salzani, VAS member and animal ethicist, recently published Animals, Empathy, and Anthropomorphism: The Limits of Imagination. We caught up with him to find out more about this open access book and his motivations for writing it.

2025, 日本文化人類学会第59回研究大会発表要旨集 (Abstracts of the 59th annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology )

2025, Atti del Convegno SIFM

Questo volume raccoglie le ri essioni di studiosi affermati e di giovani ricercatori su un tema di grande rilevanza per l'etica: il progresso morale. Il sottotitolo fa riferimento alle s!de, alle opportunità e alle prospettive future,... more

Questo volume raccoglie le ri essioni di studiosi affermati e di giovani ricercatori su un tema di grande rilevanza per l'etica: il progresso morale. Il sottotitolo fa riferimento alle s!de, alle opportunità e alle prospettive future, nella convinzione che parlare di progresso ci collochi, inevitabilmente, sulla soglia di ciò che accadrà, di un dopo verso cui ci proiettiamo. Da questo punto di vista, è come se l'argomento riassumesse lo sforzo dell'etica di aprire una !nestra sul divenire. Eppure, proprio come tutte le !nestre di una casa, questa apertura si spalanca all'esterno, ma anche dall'interno: il tema del progresso morale, nel momento stesso in cui si presenta come scommessa per il divenire, si fa questione per il presente e memoria del passato. Nelle pagine che seguono si tenta, infatti, di mantenere un equilibrio critico tra il passato, il presente e il futuro della discussione morale sul progresso. gere gli errori morali del passato, attraverso pratiche discorsive e valutative che permettono di identi!care e superare le ingiustizie. E se le convinzioni di Kitcher mettono in crisi il progresso teleologico, gli altri contributi di questa prima sezione si impegnano, invece, a riaprire la discussione sull'etica della virtù, all'insegna di virtù intese come "trasformative" per esempio, e dunque, interne al progresso morale (Maria Silvia Vaccarezza, con Federico Bina e Matilde Liberti); sul ruolo della religione, e in particolare della religione cristiana, nella giusti!cazione e nella motivazione delle credenze morali che si ritiene diano dimostrazione del progresso (Andrea Aguti); sulla non idealità del progresso, attraverso il costruttivismo e l'idea tecnologica del potenziamento umano (Fiorella Battaglia); sugli effetti della "falsa coscienza" che minano la consapevolezza morale, a cui si oppone la ribellione nello spazio urbano (Paolo Gomarasca). Già da questi brevi riferimenti ai contributi presenti nelle Questioni generali, si comprende bene come il volume raccolga una ricchezza di ambiti di ricerca e di spazi di ri essione inediti che aprono di volta in volta nuove strade. Si ragiona sulle radici storiche (nei saggi di Giacomo Maria Arrigo e Leonardo Ursillo), per poter confrontarci a fondo con la natura del progresso morale (i contributi di Giulia Battistoni

2025

This thesis takes the reader on a journey to the Tasman Peninsula, a small and remote district in Tasmania, Australia. I enter the community through the local school, Tasman District School, where I work with Grade 9 classes to explore... more

This thesis takes the reader on a journey to the Tasman Peninsula, a small and remote district in Tasmania, Australia. I enter the community through the local school, Tasman District School, where I work with Grade 9 classes to explore prospects of sustainability in their community through the students' lived experiences. Within a negotiated curriculum we focus on fishing and tourism as prospects for future employment for the students. Together the students and I explore influences on community living on the Tasman Peninsula. We also address issues of belonging, identity and values that are important to the students and to myself. I listen to the students' stories, and their lived experiences. At times I enter the community and at other times I observe the comings and goings of the community from outside, in a space like Stewart's place (1996), on the side of the road. As I move from the school to the wider community I take knowledge gleaned from the students, and I search for a mirroring of values, identity and belonging in many community hubs. Taking my place on the side of the road I accept that if I am to identify with the Tasman Peninsula community and situate myself in my research so that I develop a consciousness of relationship that will deepen my understanding of the place, I need to be also part of its dynamics. This thesis interprets my listening to stories past and present that belong there. My inquiry is inspired by approaches to research that are interpretive, ethnographic, biographic and autobiographic. Poetry too inspires, to speak diverse meaning, sometimes emotionally and prophetically, at other times to situate me in a particular place or moment or to allow me imaginative interpretation. There are some philosophers, like Mikhail Bakhtin, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jürgen Habermas and Ferdinand Tönnies, who urge and accompany me on my journey along the road to amplify and deepen understandings of the sustainability of this unique and remote community. My inquiry develops propositions that model Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion as a basis for understanding community dynamics, where core stability depends on balancing community interactions-for example, where school communities v intersect with social, industry and recreational hubs. At times the Tasman Peninsula community is subjected to external forces that might threaten the enduring nature of its existent form. Under such circumstances the sustainability of the community might fragment and a future Tasman Peninsula community might be compromised. My propositional models permit the reader to conceptualise a community that shifts energy from within to create a new balanced community, or is unable to accommodate the external forces, and the community collapses. Over the past 200 years the Tasman Peninsula community has been subjected to such external forces-annihilation of the local Indigenous population, convict presence, a massacre in 1996, and destructive bushfires in 2013-events that have deeply affected the inherited storylines within which the students I encounter live. In my inquiry I contribute my research, practice and knowledge to further community studies. This thesis points out environmental, social, economic and cultural possibilities that might sustain a small, isolated community.

2025, Reflejos de diversidad: Intersecciones e identidades en cuerpos compartidos

Esta obra de distribuye bajo licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC 4.0) Egregius editorial autoriza a incluir esta obra en repositorios institucionales de acceso abierto para facilitar su difusión.

2025, Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi

This study presents a reflexive discussion on findings from my 2022–2023 field research at an equestrian club in Ankara, using a postmodern anthropological approach. I examine how anthropocentric perspectives obscure nonhuman roles in... more

This study presents a reflexive discussion on findings from my 2022–2023 field research at an equestrian club in Ankara, using a postmodern anthropological approach. I examine how anthropocentric perspectives obscure nonhuman roles in social life, analyzing horses' positioning through spatial and linguistic arrangements. Drawing on postmodern anthropology and multispecies ethnography, I assess how knowledge production is shaped by ethical and species-based standpoints. My refusal to ride -rooted in veganism and animal liberation activism- limited my interactions with club members, challenging the "neutral observer” ideal in classical ethnography. Through participatory observation and interviews, I explore spatial organization, linguistic codes, and horse subjectivity. Findings reveal that horses’ needs are often neglected, while labels like "obedient” or "troublesome” reinforce human-centered instrumentalization. Despite multispecies ethnography’s potential, anthropocentric methodological legacies constrain its effectiveness. By reflecting on horse agency and my researcher position, I highlight anthropology’s limitations in engaging with nonhuman beings and advocate for a more inclusive ethnographic perspective.

2025, Bulletin de la Société Linnéenne Nord-Picardie

Cet article traite de la classification fondamentale qui fut utilisée de la Grèce antique à la Renaissance et qui distinguait deux grands groupes d'Aranéides : les Araignées et les Phalanges. On tente aussi de saisir cette approche si... more

Cet article traite de la classification fondamentale qui fut utilisée de la Grèce antique à la Renaissance et qui distinguait deux grands groupes d'Aranéides : les Araignées et les Phalanges. On tente aussi de saisir cette approche si particulière qui caractérise l'esprit naturaliste renaissant, quand le moindre animalcule était source de méditation.
This article deals with the fundamental classification from the ancient Greece to the Renaissance which distinguished two main groups of Arachnids : the Spiders and the Phalangia. We try also to grap this so pecular way of understanding the Nature in the Renaissance, the minibeasts themselves being an opportunity for meditation.

2025

Dr. habil. Christiane Hof arbeitet an der Fakultät für Pädagogik der Universität der Bundeswehr in München.

2025

This paper was presented at the 20th Annual International Conference on Philosophy(26-27 May, 2025), organized by the Philosophy Unit of the Athens Institute (Athens, Greece).

2025, Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society

This article explores Freud's original engagement with animal symbols, characters, and stories in his case studies ''Little Hans,'' ''The Rat Man,'' and ''The Wolf Man.'' Employing insights from animal studies, the article examines... more

This article explores Freud's original engagement with animal symbols, characters, and stories in his case studies ''Little Hans,'' ''The Rat Man,'' and ''The Wolf Man.'' Employing insights from animal studies, the article examines Freud's views on the human-animal continuum as well as the phenomena of anthropomorphism and zoomorphism, via which human characteristics are affixed to animals and animal characteristics to humans. Also examined is the symbolism surrounding the animals appearing in the fairy tales referenced by Freud's patients, including ''Little Red Riding Hood.'' We end by considering the contributions that Freud can make to the expanding field of animal studies.

2025, Teksty Drugie

maria salomea dębińska -dr, adiunktka w Instytucie Archeologii i Etnologii PAN, autorka książki Transpłciowość w Polsce. Wytwarzanie kategorii (2020), kierowniczka grantu NCN "Śluzowiec jako metoda. Etnografia praktyk naukowych" . Zajmuje... more

maria salomea dębińska -dr, adiunktka w Instytucie Archeologii i Etnologii PAN, autorka książki Transpłciowość w Polsce. Wytwarzanie kategorii (2020), kierowniczka grantu NCN "Śluzowiec jako metoda. Etnografia praktyk naukowych" . Zajmuje się antropologią płci i seksualności, społecznymi studiami nad nauką, a czasami również biosztuką. T om Engelhardt w eseju Ambush at Kamikaze Pass (Za- sadzka na przełęczy Kamikadze) opisuje popularny motyw filmowy: Wozy krążą. Rozpalane są ogniska, ustawiane straże. Z wnętrza tego ciepłego i bezpiecznego kręgu, w centrum równin, spoglądają biali mężczyźni (kamery skierowane na zewnątrz). Tam, w otaczającym mroku, na peryferiach ludzkiej egzystencji, o świcie lub o zmierzchu, pohukując i wrzeszcząc, znikąd, jak robaki, rojąc się, nadzy, pomalowani, paląc i zabijając, bez powodu, jak zwierzęta, przyjdą! Mężczyźni chwytają za rękojeści karabinów i okrążają wozy. Z tej strategicznie centralnej pozycji, z dobrą osłoną i lepszymi maszynami, dziś lub jutro, lub pojutrze, po prostu ich skoszą. Zetrą ich na proch. Nie ma w tym nic ludzkiego. To kwestia samoobrony, nic więcej. Eksterminacja może być jedyną odpowiedzią 1 .

2025

Cet article compare les modes d'organisation et d'engagement des societes d'observateurs d'oiseaux a Taiwan et a Hong Kong. Apres avoir retrace leurs origines aux modeles americain, japonais et britannique de protection de... more

Cet article compare les modes d'organisation et d'engagement des societes d'observateurs d'oiseaux a Taiwan et a Hong Kong. Apres avoir retrace leurs origines aux modeles americain, japonais et britannique de protection de la nature, il montre l'implication grandissante des citoyens chinois et taiwanais dans l'observation et la protection des oiseaux. En etudiant comment les oiseaux peuvent etre utilises comme « espece symbole » pour unifier les mouvements environnementaux de facon constructive et durable, cet article propose le concept de « sentinelle » pour saisir le melange de preoccupation environnementale democratique et de modele militaire de cartographie du territoire.

2025, E. Falaschi, S. Cecere, V. Naas, G. Adornato, A. Wolkenhauer (a cura di), Plinius oggi / heute / aujourd’hui, Villa Vigoni Editore, Lovano di Menaggio (CO), pp. 99-106.

The extraordinary creatures that Pliny lists in the section of the eighth book dedicated to Ethiopian animals are described as monstri similia ('similar to monstra', i.e. to prodigies and portents). The similarity, albeit in a logic that... more

The extraordinary creatures that Pliny lists in the section of the eighth book dedicated to Ethiopian animals are described as monstri similia ('similar to monstra', i.e. to prodigies and portents). The similarity, albeit in a logic that is not, strictly speaking, that of religious teratology or myth, activates in these beings the idea that they can serve as a warning not so much of a deviant natural order that humans must remedy with rituals, but rather of the power of Nature itself.

2025, E. Falaschi, S. Cecere, V. Naas, G. Adornato, A. Wolkenhauer (a cura di), Plinius oggi / heute / aujourd’hui, Villa Vigoni Editore, Lovano di Menaggio (CO) , pp.89-97.

Contrary to previous assumptions, a thorough examination of nat. 8.56-58 reveals that Pliny's perspectives cannot be consistently reduced to those of the Stoic vulgate or to the ideas of authors such as Seneca or Philo of Alexandria. The... more

Contrary to previous assumptions, a thorough examination of nat. 8.56-58 reveals that Pliny's perspectives cannot be consistently reduced to those of the Stoic vulgate or to the ideas of authors such as Seneca or Philo of Alexandria. The cases of lions rewarding the men who healed them challenge some of the most commonly held beliefs within the Stoic school regarding the psychic endowment of non-human animals.

2025, Anthem Press

Collects Constantine Sandis's best works on Wittgenstein's approach to understanding others, offering a fresh exegesis of Wittgenstein's writing while showing his relevance beyond the academy. The book brings together Constantine Sandis's... more

Collects Constantine Sandis's best works on Wittgenstein's approach to understanding others, offering a fresh exegesis of Wittgenstein's writing while showing his relevance beyond the academy. The book brings together Constantine Sandis's essays on Wittgenstein's approach to understanding others. Sandis sketches a picture of how his anti-scepticism with regard to the philosophical problem of 'other minds' is not only compatible with but also supported by his scepticism concerning the real-life difficulty of understanding others (and being understood by them). While each individual essay focuses on particular issues in Wittgenstein (including philosophical anthropology, interpersonal psychology, and animal concepts), they collectively paint a picture of what he takes the real problem of other minds to be, how to overcome it, and the limitations of our understanding. Sandis not only offers a fresh exegesis of Wittgenstein's public and private writings on these matters, but proceeds to show the relevance of Wittgenstein beyond the academy.

2025, Body Politics

In the middle of the 19th century, cattle breeding became increasingly important in the German states. Through breeding, the performance of the animals (milk and meat) should be improved, i.e. increased. This article traces how in... more

In the middle of the 19th century, cattle breeding became increasingly important in the German states. Through breeding, the performance of the animals (milk and meat) should be improved, i.e. increased. This article traces how in academic animal breeding the performance requirements for cattle bodies were linked to the health and also beauty of the animals. These criteria were to be read off the bodies themselves by measuring the bodies with the help of special instruments. In this way, traditional criteria of assessment were transformed into an apparently objective, scientific method according to the understanding of the time. Finally, another criterion was linked to the body of the cattle, its performance, health and beauty, which would eventually become the determining category in cattle breeding: breed.