- The Oxford Handbook of Animal Studies
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Animal Rights
- Animals in Political Theory
- Animals as Living Property
- The Human-Animal Bond
- Animal Sheltering
- Roaming Dogs
- Misothery: Contempt for Animals and Nature, Its Origins, Purposes, and Repercussions
- Continental Approaches to Animals and Animality
- Animals as Legal Subjects
- The Struggle for Compassion and Justice through Critical Animal Studies
- Interspecies Dialogue and Animal Ethics: The Feminist Care Perspective
- Cetacean Cognition
- History and Animal Agencies
- What Was It Like to Be a Cow?: History and Animal Studies
- Animals as Sentient Commodities
- Animal Work
- Animals as Reflexive Thinkers: The Aponoian Paradigm
- The Ethics of Animal Research: Theory and Practice
- The Ethics of Food Animal Production
- Animals as Scientific Objects
- The Problem with Zoos
- Wolf Hunting and the Ethics of Predator Control
- Practice and Ethics of the Use of Animals in Contemporary Art
- Animals in Folklore
- Archaeozoology
- Animals and Ecological Science
- Staging Privilege, Proximity, and “Extreme Animal Tourism”
- Commensal Species
- Lively Cities: People, Animals, and Urban Ecosystems
- Animals in Religion
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
Urban areas and their surrounding environments present a challenge and an opportunity to other species. Some animal populations have adapted successfully, taking advantage of food stores and garbage as predictable trophic resources and man-made structures as secure living space. Archaeological and historical records show that this synanthropic adaptation began in prehistory, probably before the advent of agriculture, for example in some fox populations. Some commensal species show successful ethnophoresy, such as rodent populations that have accompanied human colonization of the planet. Once established, commensal animals form a part of the everyday scene for millions of people. Our response to them ranges from food handouts to extermination, from welcome neighbors to vermin, exemplified by our range of attitudes to urban pigeons. It is argued that commensal animals are an important social and educational resource that deserves further research and encouragement.
Keywords: animal studies, commensal, synanthropic, rodent, fox, pigeon
Terry O’Connor studied zooarchaeology in London with I. W. Cornwall and D. R. Brothwell, with a particular focus on biometric variation, and went on to work closely with Lincoln and York Archaeological Trusts. Terry has held research and lecturing positions at the Universities of York and Bradford, UK. He has published extensively on Medieval zooarchaeology and late Upper Palaeolithic zooarchaeology of northern England. He is particularly interested in the archaeology of human–animal relations such as domestication and in the taphonomy of bone assemblages.
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- The Oxford Handbook of Animal Studies
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Animal Rights
- Animals in Political Theory
- Animals as Living Property
- The Human-Animal Bond
- Animal Sheltering
- Roaming Dogs
- Misothery: Contempt for Animals and Nature, Its Origins, Purposes, and Repercussions
- Continental Approaches to Animals and Animality
- Animals as Legal Subjects
- The Struggle for Compassion and Justice through Critical Animal Studies
- Interspecies Dialogue and Animal Ethics: The Feminist Care Perspective
- Cetacean Cognition
- History and Animal Agencies
- What Was It Like to Be a Cow?: History and Animal Studies
- Animals as Sentient Commodities
- Animal Work
- Animals as Reflexive Thinkers: The Aponoian Paradigm
- The Ethics of Animal Research: Theory and Practice
- The Ethics of Food Animal Production
- Animals as Scientific Objects
- The Problem with Zoos
- Wolf Hunting and the Ethics of Predator Control
- Practice and Ethics of the Use of Animals in Contemporary Art
- Animals in Folklore
- Archaeozoology
- Animals and Ecological Science
- Staging Privilege, Proximity, and “Extreme Animal Tourism”
- Commensal Species
- Lively Cities: People, Animals, and Urban Ecosystems
- Animals in Religion
- Index
