Social sciences

Covering doctrine and the lived experience of the world's religious practitioners, CALL TO COMPASSION is a collection of stirring and passionate essays on the place of animals within the philosophical, cultural, and everyday milieus of spiritual practices both ancient and modern. From Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism, through the Abrahamic traditions, to contemporary Wiccan and Native American spiri

Until the last decade of the twentieth century, the abusive or cruel treatment of animals had received virtually no attention among academics. Since then, however, empirical studies of animal abuse and its relation to other forms of violence toward humans, have increased not only in number but in quality and stature. Sociologists, criminologists, social workers, psychologists, legal scholars, femi

To a correctional facility in Virginia he is known as Prisoner 179212. But to a legion of journalists and legal reform activists he is Jens Soering, a German citizen who has endured, for the past twenty-six years, the harshest and most unforgiving punishment the USA can offer—a life sentence without realistic hope of release, which some refer to as "the other death penalty." Told with dry humour,

In THE POLAR BEAR IN THE ZOO, Martin Rowe studies a photograph by the Canadian photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur in the context of her series 'We Animals' and the portraits of several other photographers of captive animals. Rowe looks at how we come to the window to stare at the creatures and the ways we frame our ideas about them within the exposure and capture provided by the photograph and the z

Foreword by Brian May.For four decades, Kim Stallwood has had a front seat in the animal rights movement, starting at the grassroots in England and working his way up to leadership positions at some of the best-known organisations in the world, including Compassion In World Farming, the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Yet, as Stallwo

When The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory by Carol J. Adams was published more than twenty years ago, it caused an immediate stir among writers and thinkers, feminists and animal rights activists alike. Never before had the relationship between patriarchy and meat eating been drawn so clearly, the idea that there lies a strong connection between the consumption of wom

In 2006 the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) was passed in the USA with the intention to equip law enforcement agencies with the tools to apprehend, prosecute and convict individuals who commit "animal enterprise terror." But, as many have come to realise, this act does not concretely define what is meant by that phrase, leading to the interpretation that anyone interfering with a company's

While animals have played a central part in human society over the years, when it comes to the social sciences they have largely been neglected. However, interest in Human–Animal Studies (HAS) has grown exponentially in recent years, giving rise to university and college courses around the world specifically on this compelling and vital subject. Considering topics ranging from the human–animal bon

When Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont announced that two oxen called Bill and Lou would be killed and turned into hamburgers despite their years of service as unofficial college and town mascots, Pattrice Jones and her colleagues at nearby VINE Sanctuary offered an alternative scenario: to allow the elderly bovines to retire to the sanctuary. What transpired after this simple offer was

In ENTANGLED EMPATHY, academic and activist, Lori Gruen, argues that rather than focusing on animal rights, we ought to work to make our relationships with animals right by empathetically responding to their needs, interests, desires, vulnerabilities, hopes and unique perspectives. Pointing out that we are already entangled in complex and life-altering relationships with other animals, Gruen guide

Norm Phelps has long been one of the leading theoreticians, historians and strategists of the animal advocacy movement. His new book collects his recent writings on this subject, as well as offers in print for the first time a fully revised and updated version of the e-book he published in 2013. Phelps argues that faced with the overwhelming wealth and power of the animal exploitation industries,

How can we create a just, healthy and humane world? What is the path to developing sustainable energy, food, transportation, production, construction and other systems? What's the best strategy to end poverty and ensure that everyone has equal rights? How can we slow the rate of extinction and restore ecosystems? How can we learn to resolve conflicts without violence and treat other people and non

In this searingly honest account of how he came to terms with his destructive habits and changed his relationship with his own body, Alex Lockwood - writer, lecturer and activist working in the fields of literature, creative writing, media and the environment - critically explores the relationship of the body to animal activism. Looking at academic scholarship and animal advocacy organisations, Lo

In this lively, accessible and provocative collection, Aph and Syl Ko provide new theoretical frameworks on race, advocacy for nonhuman animals and feminism. Using popular culture as a point of reference for their critiques, the Ko sisters engage in ground-breaking analysis of the compartmentalised nature of contemporary social movements, present new ways of understanding interconnected oppression

In recent years, the role of zoos and aquaria as centres for conservation, education, and entertainment has been placed under scrutiny. From the controversy surrounding the confinement of orcas at SeaWorld to the killing of Harambe the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo, questions have been asked about the place, if any, of zoos and aquaria in a world where so many animals need resources and protection

With a foreword by Kathy FrestonVegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters can feel like they're living in different worlds. Many vegans and vegetarians struggle to feel understood and respected in a meat-eating culture, where some of their most pressing concerns and cherished beliefs are invisible, and where they are often met with defensiveness when they try to talk about the issue. They can become fr

In LOVE NOTES, a collection of articles, essays and presentations, Philip McKibbin introduces the Politics of Love and explores the possibilities of this emerging theory. The Politics of Love affirms the importance of love and reimagines our relationships: to ourselves, each other, non-human animals and the natural environment. This love is inclusive, critical, generous and constructive. Instead o

For thirty years, Karen Davis has been advocating for, writing about and studying the world of chickens and other domesticated fowl. As the founder and director of United Poultry Concerns, Davis has done more than perhaps anyone to reveal the complex and socially rich lives of birds. Her writing - intellectually rigorous, passionate, erudite and witty - brings fully to the fore the great injustice

As humankind moves deeper into the Anthropocene, a period marked by climate disruption, species extinction, and profound challenges to human and animal welfare, what and how we teach our children has never been of greater importance. In this passionate, incisive, and diverse collection of thirteen interconnected essays, educators at every level of education and from four continents call for a re-i

Words matter; they mould and mirror our values and our reality. And so it is with the language we use to think and talk about species other than our own. In TONGUE-TIED, Hanh Nguyen unpacks the many metaphors, meanings, and grammatical formulations that speak to and echo our physical exploitation of other-than-human animals, and shows how they constrain our abilities to relate to our animal kin fa