Journal for Critical Animal Studies
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ISSN: 1948-352X Volume VIII Issue 4 2010 Journal for Critical Animal Studies ISSN: 1948-352X Volume VIII Issue 4 2010 EDITORIAL BOARD Dr. Richard J White Chief Editor [email protected] Dr. Nicole Pallotta Associate Editor [email protected] Lindgren Johnson Associate Editor [email protected] __________________________________________________________________________________________ Laura Shields Associate Editor [email protected] Dr. Susan Thomas Associate Editor [email protected] __________________________________________________________________________________________ Veda Stram Assistant Editor [email protected] _____________________________________________________________________________________ Bianka Atlas Assistant Editor [email protected] __________________________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Richard Twine Book Review Editor [email protected] Vasile Stanescu Book Review Editor [email protected] __________________________________________________________________________________________ Nick Cooney Book Review Editor [email protected] Laura Shields Film Review Editor [email protected] _________________________________________________________________________________________ Sarat Colling Film Review Editor [email protected] __________________________________________________________________________________________ Carol Glasser Film Review Editor [email protected] __________________________________________________________________________________________ EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD For a complete list of the members of the Editorial Advisory Board please see the Institute for Critical Animal Studies website: www.criticalanimalstudies.org/?page_id=393 1 ISSN: 1948-352X Volume VIII Issue 4 2010 JCAS Volume VIII, Issue 4, 2010 EDITORIAL BOARD ............................................................................................................. 1 EDITORIAL ............................................................................................................................. 4 ESSAYS The Divided Kingdom: Inconsistency in the UK Legislation Restricting the Tail Docking of Dogs David Delafenêtre ...................................................................................................................... 8 And Say The Bakemono Responded: Animism, Derrida and the Question of the Animal in Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke Chris Crews ............................................................................................................................. 47 'The Recipe for Love'? Continuities and Changes in the Sexual Politics of Meat Erika Cudworth ........................................................................................................................ 78 COMMENTARY Limited Funds: Assessing Rescues and Sanctuaries Lisa Kemmerer ....................................................................................................................... 101 REBUTTAL Rebuttal #2 to Dr. Perlo on Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Appeals David Sztybel ......................................................................................................................... 113 POETRY Three Poems on Gestation Crates: A Pig Triptych Dana Medoro ......................................................................................................................... 132 2 ISSN: 1948-352X Volume VIII Issue 4 2010 BOOK REVIEWS Leonardo's Choice: Genetic Technologies and Animals Reviewed by Dan Lyons ......................................................................................................... 136 Muzzling a Movement Reviewed by Dan Featherston ............................................................................................... 147 Livestock/Deadstock: Working with Farm Animals from Birth to Slaughter Reviewed by Audrey E. Kali................................................................................................... 153 Eating Animals Reviewed by Heather Hillsburg ............................................................................................. 158 FILM REVIEWS Skin Trade (2010) Reviewed by Carol L. Glasser ............................................................................................... 163 JCAS: AUTHOR GUIDELINES........................................................................................ 168 3 Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Volume VIII, Issue 4, 2010 (ISSN1948-352X) EDITORIAL A characteristically eclectic range of significant and timely articles are published in this current issue of the Journal for Critical Animal Studies, each aiming to bring greater clarity, depth and vision to the critical animal studies literature and beyond. For some authors this will be achieved principally by re-visiting long established themes and arguments, for others their critical contribution will be gauged by making addressing emerging gaps in the literature, and grappling with ideas and outcomes that have become increasingly relevant to consider at the present time. Whatever the specific focus I am confident that the content will both invite and challenge us - the reader - to constructively revisit our own dominant ideas, perceptions, and understanding, and open these up to new and ever critical lines of engagement, debate, discussion and action. Reflecting on the content in more detail, David Delafenêtre's The Divided Kingdom: Inconsistency in the UK Legislation Restricting the Tail Docking of Dogs is the first of three Essays in this issue. In his essay David harnesses a rigorous historical framework to better contextualize and develop a critique that focuses on the contested and problematic nature of tail-docking in the United Kingdom. The conclusion makes a strong and unambiguous case for adopting universal principles of animal protections which are based on non-speciesist ethical considerations, having previously illustrated the woeful failure of welfarist approaches to formulate animal protection legislation. In, And Say The Bakemono Responded: Animism, Derrida and the Question of the Animal in Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, Chris Crews focuses on the figure of the monster in the popular imaginary, and explores the multiple way(s) in which these creatures have had - and in many ways continues to have - a subversive and de-stabilizing effect on the socially- constructed contours that are erected to divide humans from nonhuman animals. The essay skilfully incorporates a wide range of memorable examples, and harnesses an impressive range of literature(s) (with attention paid in particular to discussing various works of Derrida) in order to underpin and develop the central themes, arguments and conclusions. In re-visiting Adams's classic text, "The Sexual Politics of Meat" (1990) Erika Cudworth's wonderfully crafted essay 'The Recipe for Love'? Continuities and Changes in the Sexual 4 Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Volume VIII, Issue 4, 2010 (ISSN1948-352X) Politics of Meat makes a series of engaging, critical and persuasive insights that will be of great interest and relevance to a wide range of academic, activist, and other popular communities. Many examples and illustrations used in the essay are drawn from popular food advertisements and cookery in the UK. Thus not only does Erika constructively advance our critical understanding of the intersection between specieisism and patriarchy, but she also extends the relevance and applicability of The Sexual Politics of Meat beyond a largely US- centric popular culture. In the Commentary section Lisa Kemmerer reflects openly on her investigative research that emerged through problematizing the dominant economic frameworks that underpin different types of animal organizations. Drawing primarily on Lisa's experiences of four horse sanctuaries Limited Funds: Assessing Rescues and Sanctuaries gives a reflective, thought- provoking and often complex reading of the uneven economic landscapes that different organizations face, and the implications that these contexts have on the various approaches and decisions that are made. Through her analysis Lisa also carefully exposes the problematical approach(es) of the directors of the horse sanctuaries, particularly in the way that their approaches serve to reinforce, rather than challenges, the dominant (cultural) ways in which different species of animals are compartmentalised: "While the directors rescue horses, they consume cattle, pigs, chickens, and turkeys, and help to create a market for veal, eggs, and dairy products." The commentary concludes with several constructive and important recommendations that are particularly orientated around issues related to education, outreach, and prevention. This issue's Rebuttal sees David Sztybel develop a further series of responses that build upon the opening dialogue between David and Katherine Perlo (this dialogue was published in 2008, JCAS Volume VI, Issue I). In his characteristically meticulous, critical, and engaging style David advances the exchange sufficiently by developing a range of persuasive, robust and critical (counter-) arguments. It is well worth getting to grips with this critique, and critically reflecting on the content, irrespective of whether or not you are familiar with the previous dialogues that have taken place. The scope and breadth of the themes, arguments, and conclusions extend impressively across a wide-range of important and timely debates The active commitment that JCAS has to expand