Abstract
Social Lives with Other Animals examines how relationships between humans and other animals, specifically those which are domesticated for eating and keeping as pets, are constructed. The book has two strands: 1) a comprehensive overview and critical evaluation of existing literature which theorises the relationship between humans and other animals, and 2) three case studies, including the consideration of some primary data, on the eating of animals as food, the rearing of animals in industrial agriculture and the keeping of animals as companions, namely dogs. The first strand, mainly found in Chapters 1–3, is particularly useful. It draws together, compares and contrasts literature from different disciplines which would not normally be found in one book, to give a meticulous review of human/non-human relations. In doing so, Cudworth develops her own theoretical framework against which she analyses our relationship with animals in her case studies. According to her, human relations with non-human animals are constituted through a matrix of domination which she calls ‘anthroparchy’ – the structure of institutions, processes and practices by which humans dominate, exploit and abuse members of other species. Within this, she argues that there are different degrees of domination depending on species and locality. She also argues convincingly that species relations are constituted in interaction with other forms of social relations based on differences of gender, race and class. Along the way, Cudworth introduces various terms and makes various claims which she defines, explains and substantiates at some times less clearly than at others (particularly for the non-sociologist). This is in contrast to the readable opening of the book, in which the author recounts her personal experiences of human/animal relationships from early childhood to date.
The second strand of the book – the three case studies in Chapters 4–6 – draws on a broad range of sources, including academic literature, cookery books, adverts, magazines, materials of government departments, animal welfare materials and interviews with meat industry representatives and dog walkers. The empirical evidence presented is mainly British, although the experiences and impact of rearing and eating animals as food and keeping animals as companions in other countries is also considered. Cudworth uses these case studies, which map our historical and current relationships with these animals, to explain the operationalisation of anthroparchy, as well as its relationship with other forms of domination based on gender, race and class. For example, in Chapter 4, Cudworth examines the intersection between ‘anthroparchy’ and the system of the domination of women. She does this by demonstrating that food in adverts and recipes is targeted at particular types of consumer and that food items, their cooking and consuming are sexualised in terms of their qualities and effect. In Chapter 5, she illustrates the links between anthroparchy, capitalism, colonialism and gender in the context of rearing and slaughtering animals for food. Most of the primary data is concentrated in Chapter 6 on our relationship with pet dogs, in the form of extracts from ‘walk and talk’ interviews. There is a short, interesting section on the merits and limitations of this method of data collection at the beginning of this chapter. However, it is not clearly explained how the documents or interviewees discussed in the book were selected or how the data were analysed. Perhaps by virtue of her chosen method of data collection, she appears to have only interviewed ‘responsible’ dog owners. By limiting her respondents in this chapter, I felt that other ‘uses of pets’ – as, for example, weapons, status symbols, victims of physical or sexual abuse – appeared to have been given comparatively less attention. In doing so, Cudworth missed the opportunity to make her argument that the status of companion animals is ‘precarious’ even more strongly in her final substantive chapter. Throughout the book, the author also deals with a number of related questions which I found particularly interesting, such as the impact of the vegetarian and animal welfare movement and the question of agency in relation to animals.
The small criticisms of the book made above do not detract from its general quality. Overall, Social Lives with Other Animals makes a very useful contribution to the field because, first, its subject-matter – other animals – has largely been ignored theoretically and empirically until now. Cudworth is correct in her claim that sociology (and she could add the social sciences generally) have been resolutely human exclusive. Second, it reviews the existing theoretical literature from wide-ranging disciplines under one roof. Third, Cudworth develops an important theoretical framework, illuminated by her examination of a broad range of data sources (albeit that their sampling and analysis could be made more clearly to the reader) on three examples of relationships between human and domesticated animals. I could see potential for its further application to other contexts, such as our relationship with wildlife in entertainment, trafficking and so on.