The Boundary of Animality

Bibliographic Data

ID4475438
AuthorsLars Christian Risan (University of Oslo), Lars Risan (University of Oslo, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume23
Issue5
Pages787-793
Publication date2005-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning D Society and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0263-7758 • E-ISSN: 1472-3433
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1068/d359t
OpenAlexW2027621695
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited2

In this paper I explore some limits of the generalized symmetry of actor-network theory. The paper is based on a study on cows, farming technology, and farming science, and is empirically based on an anthropological fieldwork in modern, computerized cowsheds. By exploring differences in interactions between human beings and cows, on the one hand, and between human beings and computers, on the other, I argue that the partly common natural history of human beings and cows, and the lack of such a history in human-computer interactions, makes it impossible to be agnostic about where to find subjectivity in such a place as a cowshed. Animal bodies (including human beings) demand certain kinds of interactions, and thus produce certain distributions of subjectivities. The boundary of animality is not a purely 'cultural' distinction, and cannot be deconstructed as such

Archaeology · Boundary (topology · Epistemology · Natural (archaeology · Sociology · Subjectivity · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Geographies of human-animal interactions · History · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction · Mathematics · Philosophy

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