Political Theory and the Animal/Human Relationship

Judith Grant, Vincent G. Jungkunz, Judith Grant, Vincent G. Jungkunz

• Publisher: SUNY Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781438459882, 9781438459899
• eBook ISBN: 9781438459905
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Philosophy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The division of life into animal and human is one of the fundamental schisms found within political societies. Ironically, given the immense influence of the animal/human divide, especially upon power dynamics, the discipline in charge of theorizing and studying power—political science and theory—has had little to say about the animal/human. This book seeks to amend this vast oversight. Acknowledging the complexity of the changing differences between animals and humans, the contributors explore such topics as Marx, Freud, the animal, and civilization; dog breeding, racism, and democracy; the meaningful silences of animals; how sovereignty reconfigures the animal/human; and the paradoxical struggles against being dehumanized among immigrant workers in a slaughterhouse. Political Theory and the Animal/Human Relationship is necessary reading for anyone who wants to understand how power has been influenced by the animal/human divide, and what we can do about it.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction: The Importance of the Animal/Human Question for Political Theory
• Part I Toward Posthumanism
• Part II Ironies of Civilization, Sovereignty, and Democracy
• Part III Meaningful Speech, Silenced Voices
• Bibliography
• Contributors
• Index
• Back Cover