In this Book

summary

Most livestock in America currently live in cramped and unhealthy confinement, have few stable social relationships with humans or others of their species, and finish their lives by being transported and killed under stressful conditions. In Livestock, Erin McKenna allows us to see this situation and presents alternatives. She interweaves stories from visits to farms, interviews with producers and activists, and other rich material about the current condition of livestock. In addition, she mixes her account with pragmatist and ecofeminist theorizing about animals, drawing in particular on John Dewey’s account of evolutionary history, and provides substantial historical background about individual species and about human-animal relations.

This deeply informative text reveals that the animals we commonly see as livestock have rich evolutionary histories, species-specific behaviors, breed tendencies, and individual variation, just as those we respect in companion animals such as dogs, cats, and horses. To restore a similar level of respect for livestock, McKenna examines ways we can balance the needs of our livestock animals with the environmental and social impacts of raising them, and she investigates new possibilities for human ways of being in relationships with animals. This book thus offers us a picture of healthier, more respectful relationships with livestock.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Title Page, Copyright
  2. pp. i-vi
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. CONTENTS
  2. pp. vii-viii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  2. pp. ix-xii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. ONE Respectful Relationships: A Pragmatist Ecofeminist Take on Living with Livestock
  2. pp. 1-24
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. TWO Fish and Pragmatist Philosophy: Developing a Deweyan Ethic
  2. pp. 25-44
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. THREE Beef Cattle: Animal Welfare and Leopold’s Land Ethic
  2. pp. 45-75
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. FOUR In Mixed Company: Deep Ecology, Meat Consumption, and Conservation
  2. pp. 76-97
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. FIVE Ruminating with Ruminants: Rodeos, Rights, and Respectful Use
  2. pp. 98-116
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. SIX Sheep and Goats: An Ecofeminist Critique of Wendell Berry and Barbara Kingsolver
  2. pp. 117-136
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. SEVEN Dairies: Animal Welfare and Val Plumwood
  2. pp. 137-158
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. EIGHT Pork Production: Pigs and Pragmatism
  2. pp. 159-180
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. NINE Poultry Production: Chickens, “Chicks,” and Carol Adams
  2. pp. 181-208
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. TEN Better Options Moving Forward: Examining Slaughter and Limiting Consumption
  2. pp. 209-234
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  2. pp. 235-242
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. INDEX
  2. pp. 243-251
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.