Animal Studies: The Key Concepts

Prefaced with a brief introduction to the field of animal studies, the text explores the key influential terms, topics and debates which have had a major impact on the field, and that students are most likely to encounter in their animal studies classes.

Animal Studies provides a guide to key concepts in the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of animal studies, laid out in A-Z format. While Human–Animal Studies and Critical Animal Studies are the main frameworks that inform the bulk of the writings in animal studies and the key concepts discussed in the volume, other approaches such as anthrozoology and cognitive ethology are also explored. The entries in the volume attend to the differences in ongoing debates among scholars and activists, showing that what is commonly called “animal studies” is far from a unified body of work. A full bibliography of sources is included at the end of the book, along with an extensive index.

The book will be a valuable guide to undergraduate and postgraduate students in geography, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, women’s studies, and other related disciplines. Seasoned researchers will find the book helpful, when researching topics outside of their specialization. Outside of academia, it will be of interest to activists, as well as professional organizations.

Matthew R. Calarco is Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Fullerton, USA.