Social Creatures: A Human and Animal Studies Reader [Paperback]

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 or subsections (see below for a full list). 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, Flynn includes some seminal works in the field. Chapters from Carol Adams's THE SEXUAL POLITICS OF MEAT and Marjorie Spiegel's THE DREADED COMPARISON 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 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. 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.

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