Animals Without Borders: Farmed Animal Resistance
In this thesis, the author reviews six cases whereby farmed animals have escaped in New York in the 21st century. Applying a conception of borderlessness from transnational feminism, she analyzes these escapes as transgressions of the material, categorical, and linguistic boundaries that are intended to hide animal oppression – and animal resistance – from public view. She also discusses public reaction to such escapes, and the contradiction between identification with an individual animal while continuing to ignore the plight of millions of other farmed animals.
[Abstract excerpted from original text.]
“While billions of farmed animals are immobilized within agribusiness, every year some of these animals manage to break free. This thesis examines the stories of those who flee slaughterhouses and the public response to these individuals. My objective is to understand how animals resist and the role that their stories play in disrupting the ways that humans, particularly as consumers, are distanced from the violence of animal enterprises. Included are six vignettes that allow for an in-depth case study of those who have escaped within New York State. Located in the interdisciplinary field of critical animal studies, my inquiry draws upon new animal geographies, transnational feminisms, and critical discourse analysis. This contribution provides discussion of farmed animal resistance in particular and compares experiences and representations of their resistance from both the “view from below,” which is learned through the animals’ caretakers, and a “view from above,” which is gleaned from their representations in corporate-driven mainstream media.”