The biopolitics of animal being and welfare: dog control and care in the UK and India
2012/04/04 by Krithika Srinivasan · 18 citations
Social Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Geographies of human-animal interactions #Human-Animal Interaction Studies #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1475-5661.2012.00501.x
Abstract
The UK is widely regarded as a nation committed to animal welfare. On the other hand, the precarious lives of India’s stray dogs have attracted a considerable amount of international animal activist attention, and raised questions about the nation’s indifference to these animals. Furthermore, animal welfare practice and policy in India are significantly shaped by British law and practice, which is often considered superior. While these contrasting reputations appear reasonable, a closer inquiry reveals complexities that belie an easy relegation to ‘cruel’ and ‘kind’. Bringing together Foucauldian scholarship on power with legal and more‐than‐human geographies, this paper examines state and civil society discourse relating to the companion species, ‘dog’, an animal that is protected as a pet if in human homes, and controlled as a pest if out of place. In particular, this inquiry examines the discursive formations of dog control law and welfare practice in the UK and India to interrogate conventional understandings of dog (well)being. This analysis is then used as a foundation to conceptually develop Foucauldian work on biopower for the study of more‐than‐human relationships. The paper also draws out, from the above examination, insights connected to the political question of how humans might share physical and ethical space with animals, even those that do not enjoy the status of ‘protected’ or useful species.
Cited by
- An Exploration of Dog‐Related Policy Through a Legal Animal Geographies Lens
- Multispecies home (un)making: Dogs and lifestyle migrants in Lijiang Ancient Town, China
- From biopower to affirmative biopolitics: A (bio)political ecology of becoming with wolves
- Truck Dogs: Advancing a Mobile Geography of Multispecies Relations of Care
- Urban political ecology: Recovering the subject
- Establishing a framework to understand the regulation and control of dogs in urban environments: a case study of Melbourne, Australia. [europepmc]
- A Retrospective Analysis of Complaints to RSPCA Queensland, Australia, about Dog Welfare. [europepmc]
- Socioeconomic Influences on Reports of Canine Welfare Concerns to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in Queensland, Australia. [europepmc]
- One Health promotion and the politics of dog management in remote, northern Australian communities. [europepmc]
- Reorienting rabies research and practice: Lessons from India. [europepmc]
- Investigating the illicit market in veterinary medicines: An exploratory online study with pet owners in the United Kingdom. [europepmc]
- Interviews with Indian Animal Shelter Staff: Similarities and Differences in Challenges and Resiliency Factors Compared to Western Counterparts. [europepmc]
- Animal research, ethical boundary-work, and the geographies of veterinary expertise. [europepmc]
- Globetrotting Horses: Welfare Discourses and Disciplinary Power in the Transportation of Horses by Air. [europepmc]
- The Creation of a Systematic Framework to Assess Dog Laws and Their Relationship to Societal Changes in the United Kingdom. [europepmc]
- Sharing the Field: Reflections of More-Than-Human Field/work Encounters. [europepmc]
- Exploring Public Knowledge of Dog Law in the UK: Evidence of Poor Legal Knowledge in a Nationally Representative Sample. [europepmc]
- When Care Faces Violence: Anticipatory Grief, Chronic Vigilance, and Ambiguous Loss Among Street Dog Care-Givers in Istanbul [europepmc]
Related