Thinking about Animals in the Age of the Anthropocene
Contributions by Almo Farina, Carlo Brentari, Katharine Dow, Martin Drenthen Associate Professor of Ph, Annabelle Dufourcq, Peter Gaitsch, Gisela Kaplan, Eva Meijer, Susan M. Rustick, Bronislaw Szerszynski Lancaster University, Mateusz Tokarski, Sebastjan Vörös, Louise Westling Edited by Morten Tønnessen, Kristin Armstrong Oma, Silver Rattasepp
Publication date:
13 April 2016Length of book:
272 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksDimensions:
240x162mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9781498527965
The term “Anthropocene”, the era of mankind, is increasingly being used as a scientific designation for the current geological epoch. This is because the human species now dominates ecosystems worldwide, and affects nature in a way that rivals natural forces in magnitude and scale. Thinking about Animals in the Age of the Anthropocene presents a dozen chapters that address the role and place of animals in this epoch characterized by anthropogenic (human-made) environmental change. While some chapters describe our impact on the living conditions of animals, others question conventional ideas about human exceptionalism, and stress the complex cognitive and other abilities of animals. The Anthropocene idea forces us to rethink our relation to nature and to animals, and to critically reflect on our own role and place in the world, as a species. Nature is not what it was. Nor are the lives of animals as they used to be before mankind´s rise to global ecological prominence. Can we eventually learn to live with animals, rather than causing extinction and ecological mayhem?
This book, a collection of a dozen scholarly chapters that address various aspects of the anthropocene and human/animal relationships, is fascinating…. I think anyone in an animal studies programs will see this book as a ‘must read,’ because it speaks to the challenges animal rights activists face in raising awareness of animal issues.