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The Capitalist Commodification of Animals

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This volume offers analysis regarding the historical transformations in the material conditions and ideological conceptions of nonhuman animals, alienated speciesism, the ecological crisis that is ...
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  • 30 November 2020
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While animal suffering and abuse have taken place throughout history, the alienation of humanity from nature caused by the development of capitalism - by the logic of capital and its system of generalized commodity production - accelerated and increased the depredations in scope and scale.

The capitalist commodification of animals is extensive. It includes, but is not limited to:
  • livestock production in concentrated animal feeding operations
  • leather and fur production
  • the ivory trade in which tusks are used for 'traditional medicines; or carved into decorative objects
  • entertainment such as in zoos, marine parks, and circuses
  • laboratory experimentation to test medicines, beauty products, pesticides, and other chemicals
  • the pursuit of trophy hunting, sometimes on canned farms and sometimes in the wild
  • bioengineering of livestock and of animals used in laboratories
The contributors to this special issue of Research in Political Economy provide insightful analyses that address the historical transformations in the material conditions and ideological conceptions of nonhuman animals, alienated speciesism, the larger ecological crisis that is undermining the conditions of life for all species, and the capitalist commodification of animals that results in widespread suffering, death, and profits. This book is a must-read not only for political economists, but also for researchers interested in animal studies, environmentalism, and sustainability.
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Price: $116.99
Pages: 232
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
Imprint: Emerald Publishing Limited
Series: Research in Political Economy
Publication Date: 30 November 2020
ISBN: 9781839826818
Format: Hardcover
BISACs: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economics / General, Economics, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Commerce, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Environmental Economics
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Brett Clark is professor of sociology, environmental humanities, and environmental and sustainability studies at the University of Utah. His research focuses on the political economy of global environmental change. 

Tamar Diana Wilson is an independent researcher. Her research mainly examines internal and international Mexican migration and the informal economy/precarious work.
Introduction. The Capitalist Commodification of Animals: A Brief Introduction; Brett Clark and Tamar Diana Wilson 
Part I. Theoretical Approaches to the Commodification of Animals 
Chapter 1. It’s Not Humans, It’s Animal Capital; Christian Stache 
Chapter 2. Animals and Nature: The Co-Modification of the Sentient Biosphere; Paula Brügger 
Chapter 3. Abstract Life, Abstract Labor, Abstract Mind; Charles Thorpe and Brynna Jacobson 
Chapter 4. Mission Impossible? Reflections on Objectification and Instrumentalization of Animals in the Economy; Wolfgang Leyk  
Part II. Case Studies of the Commodification of Animals 
Chapter 5. The Commodification of Living Beings in the Fur Trade: The Intersection Cheap Raw Materials and Cheap Labor; Tamar Diana Wilson 
Chapter 6. Capitalism Has Granted Wolves a Temporary Reprieve from Extinction; Alexander Simon 
Chapter 7. The Landowners’ Ethic: Aldo Leopold, Game Management, and Private Property; Cade Jameson  
Part III. Argentina’s Working Class 
Chapter 8. The Dynamics of Violence and Labor Conflict in Villa Constitución, Argentina, 1973-1975; Agustín Santella