Animals and Society: An Introduction to Human-Animal Studies by DeMello, Margo

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Human¿animal studies explores human¿animal relations and the place of animals within human social and cultural worlds. Considering that much of human society is structured through its interaction with non-human animals, and since human society relies heavily on the exploitation of animals to serve human needs, human¿animal studies has become a rapidly expanding field of research, featuring a number of distinct positions, perspectives, and theories that require nuanced explanation and contextualization.

Margo DeMello teaches anthropology and sociology at Central New Mexico Community College. She is also the program director for human¿animal studies at the Animals & Society Institute and executive director of House Rabbit Society. Her books include Speaking for Animals: Animal Autobiographical Writing; Teaching the Animal: Human-Animal Studies Across the Disciplines; Stories Rabbits Tell: A Natural and Cultural History of a Misunderstood Creature; and Why Animals Matter: The Case for Animal Protection.

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

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 as Symbol

14. Animals in Human Thought

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