Manning Aubrey, Serpell James. Animals and Human Society, Changing perspectives

Routledge, 2002. — 240 p.Modern society is beginning to re-examine its whole relationship with animals and the natural world. Until recently issues such as animal welfare and environmental protection were considered the domain of small, idealistic minorities. Now, these issues attract vast numbers of articulate supporters who collectively exercise considerable political muscle. Animals, both wild and domestic, form the primary focus of concern in this often acrimonious debate. Yet why do animals evoke such strong and contradictory emotions in people - and do our Western attitudes have anything in common with those of other societies and cultures? Bringing together a range of contributions from distinguished experts in the field, Animals and Society explores the importance of animals in society from social, historical, and cross-cultural perspectives.Over the millennia, human relationships with animals have taken some extraordinary forms. Animals have been worshipped as gods, reviled as evil spirits, or as symbols of human depravity. They have been cruelly mistreated as mindless automata, tried and executed for criminal acts, and welcomed into our families as loved companions. And because we have always lived at their expense, animals have also provided a rich and disturbing source of moral conflicts and paradoxes. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the industrial West. Our society is re-examining its whole relationship with animals and the natural world. Until recently, issues such as animal welfare, wildlife conservation, and environmental protection were considered the domain of small, idealistic minorities. Now, they have become matters of widespread public and political concern. But is this explosion of interest in the plight of non-human animals purely a westernWesternenon without cultural parallels or historical precedents? Or are our current concerns about animals simply the most recent manifestation of an ancient and recurring human preoccupation? Animals and Human Society seeks to answer these questions through a wide-ranging historical, cross-cultural, and contemporary reappraisal of human attitudes to animals. The distinguished contributors to Animals and Human Society draw their insights from a variety of disciplines. The book will therefore be of great interest to students of anthropology, sociology, and history, as well as to all those concerned about the current status of animals and nature. — This text refers to the hardcover edition.