Revisiting and Reframing History as If Animals Matter

"That is among the many reasons why I found a new book edited by Revd. Professor Andrew Linzey and Dr. Clair Linzey, Directors of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, titled Animal History - History as If Animals Mattered, to be of great interest.In this collection of 14 essays, academics reinstate nonhuman animals as proper historical subjects of historical inquiry."

"Animal History both builds upon and pioneers the rising momentum of animal history we've seen over the past few decades. Coming out the same year that the academic journal Animal History published its first issue, and fewer than 20 years since Harriet Ritvo described the "animal turn" in the humanities, Animal History calls upon over a decade of work"

Nonhuman animals have been largely marginalized or omitted in traditional historical scholarship. A collection of essays reinstates nonhuman animals as legitimate historical subjects and contributors. The work builds on decades of scholarship, including the 'animal turn' and the emergence of animal history as an academic field. Contributors emphasize that animals possess biographies as well as biology and call for historical inquiry that recognizes animal lives, agency, and ethical value. The volume links animal history to studies of race, science, and shifting human-animal relationships in specific historical contexts.

Read at Psychology Today