Final Animals Exam

Social Construction of Science and Technology

  • Scientific knowledge and technology are shaped by social, political, and cultural forces, not objective.
  • Influenced by institutional agendas, political influences, cultural norms, and economic interests.
  • Created through social processes and interactions.

Cognitive and Physical Constructions

  • Cognitive: Constructions reflecting meanings in attitudes, values, and beliefs, found in texts and discourse.
    • Example: Species categorized as endangered or valuable.
  • Physical: Embodied and enacted sources of meaning, found in technologies.
    • Example: Dams, hatcheries, and fishing gear.

Wilderness Concept Transition

  • Pre-industrialization: Wilderness seen negatively as a wasted, savage space.
    • Represented lawlessness and chaos.
    • Biblical references reinforced negative views (e.g., Moses, Jesus).
  • Late 1800s Shift:
    • Wilderness became a spiritual space due to its rarity.
    • Romanticized by authors in the 1850s.
    • Yellowstone created in 1872.
    • Seen as a refuge from human impact.

Native, Non-Native, and Invasive Species

  • Non-Native and Non-Invasive:
    • Rainbow Trout
    • Brown Trout
    • Kokanee
  • Non-Native and Invasive:
    • Brook Trout
    • Lake Trout
    • Carp

Willion Cronon

  • There is no wilderness: saying wilderness = humans are not animals.
  • Social construction of wilderness as a make-believe idea

The Absent Referent

  • Separation of meat from the idea of a living animal.
  • "The function is to keep our meat separated from any idea that she was once an animal."

Ecofeminism

  • Connects exploitation of nature with the subordination of women.
  • Feminizing the natural world leads to its exploitation.
  • Analyzing this intersection reduces violence.
  • Women are often seen as more connected to animals (e.g., veganism).
  • Carol Adams: Women and nonhuman animals are separated from their subjectivity.

Boundary Work

  • Drawing and blurring lines between humans and animals.
  • Makes contradictory ideas seem normal.
  • Nazi Germany used animal welfare laws and propaganda.
    • Framed animals as innocent and in need of protection.

Eugenics and Social Biology

  • Artificially selecting traits for reproduction.
  • Used to create distinctions among people.
  • Inspired Nazi Germany's eugenics programs.
  • US was first with the sterilization against Natives from 1924 -30s.

Chicago Slaughterhouses and Henry Ford

  • Mass production of meat and animal exploitation.
  • Inspired Ford's assembly line, leading to industrialization of animal consumption.
  • Dehumanization of both humans and animals.

Cult Worship of Animals

  • Nazi hunting parties focused on culling the weak, not killing the strongest.
  • Animal-based identifications and marketing based white supremacy.

1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany

  • Jesse Owens' wins disrupted racist ideology.
  • Extra Credit: Mark Robinson (Jackie Robinson's brother) also won silver.
  • Authors believe Social Darwinism, animal slaughter, and industrialization led to Hitler's mass murder.

Ethnological Expositions and Zoos

  • 18th and 19th-century displays of people (e.g., Saartje Baartman, Ota Benga).
  • Zoos represent control and dominance over animals and humans.

Thomas Malthus, Darwin, and Herbert Spencer

  • Thomas Malthus: population grows faster than food supplies .
    • Those deemed useless don't deserve food.
  • Darwin: Natural selection based on individual differences.
  • Herbert Spencer: Social evolution and survival of the fittest.

Rick Scarce (Socially Constructing Salmon)

  • Methods: Comparative analysis of historical documents, interviews, and participant observation.
  • Cognitive Constructions: Social pressures influence biologists' views, framing salmon as utilitarian entities.
  • Physical Constructions: Hatcheries create new salmon through physical constructions.