Reviews for Social Creatures: A Human and Animal Studies Reader

The average rating for Social Creatures: A Human and Animal Studies Reader based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-10-12 00:00:00 Michael P Napier Anthrozoology, A to Z (Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review at the publisher's invitation.) In Social Creatures: A Human and Animal Studies Reader , editor Clifton P. Flynn has assembled a diverse selection of writing and research on the topic of Human-Animal Studies (HAS). HAS (also called anthrozoology) is, quite simply, the study of human-animal interactions. Because of its multidisciplinary approach, HAS is a vast and varied field; human-animal interactions can be examined through a multitude of lenses, including psychology, sociology, ethology, anthropology, zoology, veterinary medicine, health science, history, philosophy, women's studies and ethnic studies. Consequently, scholarship in this field represents a motley body of work. Social Creatures both reflects and embraces the heterogeneity of Human-Animal Studies. The thirty-one pieces in this hefty volume are grouped into nine topics: An Emerging Field; Studying Human-Animal Relationships; Historical and Comparative Perspectives; Animals and Culture; Attitudes towards Other Animals; Criminology and Deviance; Inequality - Interconnected Oppressions; Living and Working with Other Animals; and Animal Rights - Philosophy and Social Movement. A number of subjects are touched upon, including the human-animal bond; religious perspectives on animal rights; animal rights philosophy; the effects of gender on attitudes towards animal rights and participation in animal rights activism; correlations between support for animal rights and other social causes; grief in companion animal caretakers and shelter workers; and links between cruelty to animals and interpersonal violence, including child and partner abuse, to name but a few. Given the broad scope of Human-Animal Studies, Flynn does an excellent job of representing the major areas of research in the field. Culled from an assortment of books and academic journals (a number of papers originally appeared in the "big two" anthrozoology journals - PSYETA's Society & Animals and ISAZ's Anthrozoos ), Flynn includes some seminal works in the field. Chapters from Carol Adams's The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory and Marjorie Spiegel's The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery come to mind; Adams and Spiegel vividly demonstrate the intersectionality of oppressions, be it animals/women or animals/people of color, respectively. While I read these chapters in their original context some time ago, I highly enjoyed re-reading them as part of an anthrozoology anthology, placed alongside similar essays. Speaking of intersecting or parallel oppressions, I'm pleased to see that Social Creatures does not shy away from examining how various "isms" intertwine with and feed upon one another. The anthology includes an entire grouping devoted to the subject ("Inequality - Interconnected Oppressions"); in addition to Adams's and Spiegel's pieces, this section includes an essay by David Nibert, originally published in the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy entitled "Humans and Other Animals: Sociology's Moral and Intellectual Challenge." Happily, the subject of intersecting oppressions is not limited to an isolated subsection; essays which examine the intersection of animal advocacy, race, ethnicity and gender can be found throughout the book, and the concluding section on animal rights philosophy includes a wonderful re-examination of Singer and Regan's animal rights philosophies by (eco)feminist Josephine Donovan ("Animal Rights and Feminist Theory"). As all but one of the pieces in Social Creatures have previously appeared elsewhere, students and newcomers to the field will probably benefit most from this reader. As an animal rights advocate, former psychology student and layperson interested in the field, I highly enjoyed the selections chosen for inclusion by Flynn. The table of contents (copied below) reads like a "who's who" in the field, and serves as an effective starting point for those who are curious about Human-Animal Studies. Many of the contributors have authored books (or edited anthologies) themselves. In addition to Adams's and Spiegel's tomes, other works on my bookshelf include Between Pets and People , by Alan Beck and Aaron Katcher; Animal Models of Human Psychology , by Kenneth J. Shapiro; Regarding Animals , by Arnold Arluke and Clinton Sanders; In the Company of Animals: A Study of Human-Animal Relationships , by James Serpell; Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Animal Abuse: Linking the Circles of Compassion for Prevention and Intervention , by Frank R. Ascione and Phil Arkow; and Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations , by Carol Adams and Josephine Donovan. Social Creatures also features a 34-page reference list, an invaluable resource for those who'd like to use the book as a jumping-off point for further research. While many laypeople may think that anthrozoology is the domain of academics, theorists and scientists, animal advocates can also benefit greatly from HAS research. For example, the link between interpersonal violence and animal abuse can help animal advocates lobby for stronger animal cruelty laws; likewise, the intersection of partner and animal abuse provides activists with a sound argument with which to persuade women's shelters to accept companion animals. Similarly, many animal organizations, recognizing the importance of "market research," conduct polls so that they can tailor their message effectively to different demographics. Clearly, animal advocates have much to learn from anthroozology as well. Contents Social Creatures: An Introduction, Clifton P. Flynn Part I: An Emerging Field 1. Introduction to Human-Animal Studies, Kenneth J. Shapiro 2. The Zoological Connection: Animal-related Human Behavior, Clifton Bryant 3. The Animal Question in Anthropology, Barbara Noske Part II: Studying Human-Animal Relationships 4. Understanding Dogs through Kinesthetic Empathy, Social Construction, and History, Kenneth J. Shapiro 5. Future Directions in Human-Animal Bond Research, Alan M. Beck and Aaron H. Katcher 6. Understanding Dogs: Caretakers' Attributions of Mindedness in Canine-Human Relationships, Clinton R. Sanders Part III: Historical and Comparative Perspectives 7. Speciesism, Anthropocentrism, and Non-Western Cultures, Barbara Noske 8. The Anthropology of Conscience, Michael Tobias 9. The Emergence of Modern Pet-keeping, Harriet Ritvo Part IV: Animals and Culture 10. Animal Rights as Religious Vision, Andrew Linzey 11. The Power of Play, Leslie Irvine 12. There's Not Enough Room to Swing a Dead Cat and There's No Use Flogging a Dead Horse, Tracey Smith-Harris Part V: Attitudes towards Other Animals 13. Gender, Sex-role Orientation and Attitudes toward Animals, Harold Herzog, Nancy S. Betchart, and Robert B. Pittman 14. Childhood Pet Keeping and Humane Attitudes in Young Adulthood, Elizabeth S. Paul and James A. Serpell 15. Animal Rights and Human Social Issues, David Nibert Part VI: Criminology and Deviance 16. Children Who Are Cruel to Animals: A Review of Research and Implications for Developmental Psychology, Frank R. Ascione 17. Childhood Cruelty to Animals and Subsequent Violence against Humans, Linda. Merz-Perez, Kathleen M. Heide, and Ira J. Silverman 18. Women's Best Friend: Pet Abuse and the Role of Companion Animals in the Lives of Battered Women, Clifton P. Flynn 19. Hoarding of Animals: An Under-recognized Public Health Problem in a Difficult-to-study Population, Gary J. Patronek Part VII: Inequality - Interconnected Oppressions 20. An Historical Understanding, Marjorie Spiegel 21. The Sexual Politics of Meat, Carol J. Adams 22. Humans and Other Animals: Sociology's Moral and Intellectual Challenge, David Nibert Part VIII: Living and Working with Other Animals 23. The Health Benefits of Human-Animal Interactions, Andrew N. Rowan and Alan M. Beck 24. Personality Characteristics of Dog and Cat Persons, Rose M. Perrine and Hannah L. Osbourne 25. Human Grief Resulting from the Death of a Pet, Gerald H. Gosse and Michael J. Barnes 26. Loving Them to Death: Blame-displacing Strategies of Animal Shelter Workers and Surrenderers, Stephen Frommer and Arnold Arluke 27. Savages, Drunks, and Lab Animals: The Researcher's Perception of Pain, Mary T. Phillips Part IX: Animal Rights - Philosophy and Social Movement 28. All Animals are Equal, Peter Singer 29. The Case for Animal Rights, Tom Regan 30. Animal Rights and Feminist Theory, Josephine Donovan 31. Caring about Blood, Flesh, and Pain: Women's Standing in the Animal Protection Movement, Lyle Munro

Review # 2 was written on 2008-07-11 00:00:00 Tommy Tucker Before we had Millennials to pick on, there were the Victorians. Whether it be the proliferation of pornography or the hysteria surrounding diseases and their control, the Victorians have always availed themselves as a congenial target for social historians. This book takes a fun Foucauldian swipe at their antics pertaining specifically to their changing relationship with animals, and those who owned them. This was quite the popular book when it first came out in the middle 80s and it's easy to understand why. Ritvo's writing is very readable and the material both accessible & entertaining to the general reader. Each chapter deals with a separate subject that relates to the overall theme of animals and the Victorians' use of power to dominate and then management them. One chapter focuses on the special Victorian cachet of raising prized beef. A male aristocratic pastime that masqueraded as public service. This fatty nonsense is enhanced by the reflexive fad of aristocratic ladies fascinated by the prestige of serving a roast "that could be identified by name". The next chapter targets the Victorian need for control through "pure" breeding of pets. The quest for the creation of the ideal breed in a dog denotes the Victorian imagination, rather than any scientific prowess. Breeds were spun mostly out of fancy. The search for cat breeds met with much less success as fur coloration proven almost entirely the sole distinction between felines. The example of the bulldog is especially entertaining as the author accuses it of being hardly a breed to begin with, but rather "a motley group of similarly talented animals". Talented as to bull baiting, it's original job function, the rise of the breed is particularly noteworthy as its extinction seemed almost certain after parliament banned bull baiting in the early nineteenth century. A national symbol created at the same time it's bereft of its utility. There's a moral packed in there, somewhere..... The emergence of humane institutions gets and deserves their own chapter. Victorians might not have cared a whit for their neighbor, but the sight of a horse being beaten on the thoroughfare plagued their sensitive nerves. The progress of the stigma against the abuse of animals is chronicled alongside the necessary beginnings of enforcement. The author takes note that if the upper classes couldn't outlaw the lower classes, they could still take them to court. There's progress for you. Ritvo then moves from the domestic scene to the international, the last two chapters focus on the transformation of menageries into zoos proper, as well as the journey from "big game hunting" in the extended empire to the management of animal species through preservation and law enforcement, however feeble and class oriented. This is history compartmentalized into its delimited period. A reader might get the mistaken and farcical impression that the Brits paid no mind to animals before the late eighteenth century. The English, or some of them, anyway, have undoubtedly always loved their pets and then went hunting when the mood attached itself. Yet the nineteenth century on the whole does appear to be a singular time of transition in England and its power politics in social life seems somewhat ever-present. Certainly, Ritvo's book ably demonstrates that subtle and unsubtle power dynamic is as much a four legged affair as two. This begs the question: when man eventually casts his eye of concern on other living creatures, is this the moment when the problems of those others really begin?