Are Carcasses Political? German Veterinarians and the Modernization of Rendering Technology, 1864-1940
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4023725 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chad B Denton (0000-0002-7587-5958, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 90-123 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Technology and Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0040-165X • E-ISSN: 1097-3729 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/tech.2023.0003 |
| PMID | 38588168 |
| OpenAlex | W4319264578 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
The regulations dealing with animal death have undergirded the autarkic aspirations of governments as diverse as revolutionary France, Nazi Germany, and the German Democratic Republic. Three recent works on "fascist," "communist," and "capitalist" pigs reveal parallels between the industrialized slaughter of animals in Germany's twentieth-century authoritarian regimes and the capitalist slaughter system in nineteenth-century America's "red meat republic." In their focus on political ideology, however, these works overlook the politics of professionalization. A late nineteenth-century relationship between state, economy, and national welfare in Germany allowed veterinarians to create a unique "slaughter culture" based on the technological, hygienic disposal of animal carcasses. This article traces the development of that professional culture through one veterinarian, Robert von Ostertag (1864-1940). He and his well-placed protégés weaponized the idea of carcasses as untapped reservoirs of raw materials to impact legislation and veterinary education, making German veterinarians the arbiters of animal remains
Animal welfare · Archaeology · Biology · Communism · Democracy · Economic history · Economics · Economy · German · Ideology · Modernization theory · Political science · Politics · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,67 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2024 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |