Dressing Down

Cet article est consacré à l’habillage des animaux non-humains. En effet, alors que bien des anthropologues ont souligné que certaines espèces d’animaux domestiques constituent des accessoires ou des marqueurs d’une identité culturelle ou individuelle, la pratique consistant à doter d’accessoires, vestimentaires ou autres, les animaux eux-mêmes a reçu peu d’attention. Cet article entend combler ce vide, et ce faisant, soutenir que ce sujet est d’une immense importance pour les anthropologues et les chercheurs intéressés par la culture matérielle qui cherchent à comprendre ce que signifie le fait d’être humain. L’acte d’habiller des animaux – des chevaux dans le cas de ce papier – peut être considéré comme une façon d’exercer un contrôle sur l’«  animalité » du non-humain, tandis que le contraire, le retrait du vêtement et e l’attirail matériel peut, dans certains contextes, être considéré comme un acte de reconnaissance de l’agencéité et du statut de personne de l’animal, lorsque les propriétaires humains cherchent à entretenir une relation basée sur le respect de la «  nature animale », plutôt qu’à dominer celle-ci.This paper is concerned with the practice(s) of dressing nonhuman animals. Indeed, while many anthropological commentators have recognised that certain domesticated animals constitute accessories or markers of cultural or individual identity, the process of accessorising animals themselves has received little attention. This paper seeks to address the void and in the process will argue that the topic is of immense significance for anthropologists and material culturists who seek to understand what it means to be human. The act of clothing animals, in the case of this paper, horses, can be regarded as a way of exerting control over the ‘animality’ of the nonhuman, while the converse, the removal of clothing and material paraphernalia can, in some contexts, be seen as a recognition of animal agency and personhood as human owners seek to cultivate a relationship based on respect of ‘animal nature’ as opposed to domination over it

Listening after the animals : sound and pastoral care in the zoo

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, grant number ES/R009554/1.In anthropology and across the humanities and social sciences, zoos have tended to be theorized as places of spectacle. Scholars often focus on the ways in which these institutions enable the viewing of other-than-human animals by human publics. This article, however, uses sound-focused ethnographic fieldwork to engage with two UK zoos and to describe a particular mode of cross-species listening which is enacted by zookeepers. The concepts of pastoral care and control discussed by Foucault and applied to the zoo context by Braverman are productively reworked and reorientated in order to understand this form of listening. The article also demonstrates the interconnectedness of keeper, visitor, and animal sound worlds, in the process generating an original perspective that complements and enriches conventional zoo studies.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Does the sound environment influence the behaviour of zoo-housed birds? A preliminary investigation of ten species across two zoos

This study was made possible thanks to an Economic & Social Research Council grant number ES/R009554/1.In the zoo, the sound environment experienced by captive wild animals will contain numerous anthropogenic features that may elicit different responses to those stimulated by naturally created, or more biologically relevant, sounds. Husbandry activities, visitor presence and neighbouring species (free-living and captive) will all influence the sounds around zoo-housed species; an animal's behavioural responses may therefore provide an insight into how its welfare state is influenced by this changing sound environment. This project aimed to investigate how animal behaviour was influenced by the sound environment at two large UK zoos; one situated in a more rural location and the other in an urban location. Species were selected based on their location in the zoo, the relevance of sound to their natural ecology (e.g., as a form of communication and/or for anti-predator responses) and their novelty as research subjects in the scientific literature. Behavioural data collection was conducted for five days per enclosure per zoo at the population and individual level for birds housed in different styles of enclosure. Instantaneous sampling at one-minute intervals was used to collect information on state behaviours, assessed using a pre-determined species-specific ethogram. Event behaviours were collected continuously for each observation period. The sound environment around or in the enclosure was recorded continuously during each behavioural recording session using a recorder mounted on a tripod. Results showed a variety of responses to the presence of visitors and potential associated changes to sound around the enclosure with some behaviours being more influenced by the presence of visitors (and increases in the volume of sound) compared to others, e.g., vigilance and vocalisations. Overall, birds showed few of the changes thought to indicate poor or impoverished welfare states linked to changes to the sound environment in their enclosure or to the presence of visitors, but we recommend that zoos consider further measurement and recording of sound on a species-by-species basis to capture individual responses and behavioural changes to variation in visitor number and the sound environment.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Concurrent and prospective associations between negative social-evaluative beliefs, safety behaviours, and symptoms during and following cognitive behavioural group therapy for social anxiety disorder

Background: Improving the delivery of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD) requires an in-depth understanding of which cognitive and behavioural mechanisms drive change in social anxiety symptoms (i.e., social interaction anxiety) during and after treatment. The current study explores the dynamic temporal associations between theory-driven cognitive and behavioural mechanisms of symptom change both during and following group CBT. Methods: A randomized controlled trial of imagery-enhanced CBT (n = 51) versus traditional verbal CBT (n = 54) for social anxiety was completed in a community mental health clinic setting. This study included data collected from 12-weekly sessions and a 1-month follow-up session. Mixed models were used to assess magnitude of change over the course of treatment. Cross-lagged panel models were fit to the data to examine temporal relationships between mechanisms (social evaluative beliefs, safety behaviours) and social interaction anxiety symptoms. Results: Participants in both CBT groups experienced significant improvements across all cognitive, behavioural, and symptom measures, with no significant differences in the magnitude of changes between treatments. During treatment, greater social-evaluative beliefs (fear of negative evaluation, negative self-portrayals) at one time point (T) were predictive of more severe SAD symptoms and safety behaviours at T+1. Social-evaluative beliefs (fear of negative evaluation, probability and cost of social failure) and safety behaviours measured at post-treatment were positively associated with SAD symptoms at the 1-month follow-up. Conclusions: The current study identifies social-evaluative beliefs that may be important targets for symptom and avoidance reduction during and following CBT. Assessment of these social-evaluative beliefs throughout treatment may be useful for predicting future SAD symptoms and avoidance, and for adapting treatment to promote optimal change for patients

Animals as producers, consumers and consumed: the complexities of trans-species sustenance in a multi-faith community

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this record.Anthropological engagements with nonhuman animals in religious contexts have tended to focus either on animals as sacrificial offerings, whose physical bodies are consumed by suppliants and the divine, or as symbolic entities whose physiological or behavioural characteristics are consumed by human imaginations. More generally, animals, especially those classified as livestock, constitute ‘animal products’ – their flesh, milk, eggs and skins readily consumed by both humans and those nonhumans privileged enough to be our close companions. Drawing on longitudinal qualitative research conducted at a multi-species, multi-faith ashram, and in dialogue with recent ethological research which challenges dominant understandings of nonhuman subjectivities, it will be suggested that animals, especially those traditionally classified as ‘livestock’ can acquire the status of producers, consumers and consumed in ways which challenge normative expectations and practices of production and consumption

Clan of the fox? : 'hunting' subculture in a rural Welsh farming community

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