Zoocialization

Learning Together, Becoming Together in a Multispecies Triad

Bibliographic Data

ID8098003
AuthorsAndrea Petitt (0000-0003-3811-0531, Centre for Gender Research, Uppsala University https://dx.doi.org/3263825 Sweden, corresponding author), Keri Brandt-Off (Fort Lewis College https://dx.doi.org/3054 Durango, CO USA)
Year2022
Volume32
Issue2
Pages178-195
Publication date2022-04-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociety and Animals (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1063-1119 • E-ISSN: 1568-5306
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/15685306-bja10082
OpenAlexW4226033004
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited16

Herding cattle across the landscape requires three species – horse, cattle, and human – to move together in a goal-orientated, albeit human-centered, activity. In this multispecies activity, they must synchronize through embodied communication and develop a shared understanding of moving conjointly. Together, all three species are socialized, or “zoocialized,” to learn to engage in a shared community of communication where they develop a sense of “timing” and “feel” of the others to enable their directed movement together. While not denying or downplaying the power and pain integral to cattle ranching, we explore and interpret the interspecies, multispecies communication, collaboration, and choreography. Based on a multispecies ethnographic methodology, we draw on experiences from cattle herding in the USA, Canada, and Sweden. What emerges are intricate relations of agency, shaped by meanings of species, where human and nonhuman social actors learn to meet and construct a vibrant multispecies community of communication

Agency (philosophy · Construct (python library · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Ethnography · Geography · Herding · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Computer Science · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation · Communication

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Open DOIOpen Access