Overview

Examining social imaginaries is important for exploring how we might live differently. This interdisciplinary book combines ethical, narrative, and media analysis to investigate emerging ideas regarding human-animal interaction and cohabitation in Australia in the twenty-first century. The authors appraise the range of conventions, standards, and narratives that have driven Australians’ interactions with animals. They further trace how animal advocates, activist groups, and other influencers are calling for change, together with inspiring everyday Australians to better consider the status and wellbeing of animals in Australia. In this work they draw on a wide range of sources: from activist campaigning and well-known cultural narratives to diverse forms of mainstream media production and scientific analysis. They examine the treatment of livestock animals, common understandings of companion animals, the protection of threatened species, the complexity of living alongside native animals, and the possible rewilding of Australian communities and landscapes. The book also addresses the question of what living in more-than-human, multispecies communities might mean and look like in practice. In every chapter the authors endeavour to better understand how Australians live alongside animals and imagine how better models for interaction, cohabitation, and communal living with animals might be built.

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9781789973143

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Jane Mummery is Adjunct Senior Research Fellow with Federation University, having previously held the roles of Senior Lecturer and Lecturer in Philosophy at Federation University and Edith Cowan University. She is the author of four previous books and numerous articles examining ethical and political understandings of and models for social change. Her research explores the ethical and political dimensions of everyday life and currently revolves around the challenging of neoliberal and anthropocentric assumptions. Her specific interests concern the reorienting of value and identity construction across and through the public sphere, activist action, and human-animal-environmental relations. Debbie Rodan is Honorary Associate Professor in Media & Cultural Studies at Edith Cowan University, having previously held the roles of Masters of Professional Communication Coordinator, Director of a Research Centre (CREATEC), and Senior Lecturer. She is the author of three previous books and numerous articles examining identity construction in the media, digital media activism, and public deliberation about animal welfare. Her specific research interest centres on public attitudes to animal welfare, identity construction, and digital media use for social change.

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