Old McDonald’s Had a Farm: The Metaphysics of Factory Farming

Abstract

This article explores the cultural and philosophical foundations of factory farming. Modes of capitalist production play a role: Marx’s analysis of the fourfold alienation of labor can be applied to animal-laborers. However, the harshness with which animals are treated exceeds the harshness directed toward human workers. At root is a cultural anthropocentrism that prohibits viewing animals as moral subjects, removing ethical restraints. Ultimately, the modernist ways in which animals are treated as both like and unlike human workers are related to the rise of Cartesian mechanism. The categories of “human” and “animal” are reconfigured by the image of the “machine.”

State Capitalism as a Crisis of Imagination. Factory Farms in the Polish People’s Republic in the 1970s

“…Before continuing, I should clarify my standpoint as an author. I am not an economic historian, but a critical animal studies scholar, and this 1999, Fitzgerald 2003, Young Lee 2008, Lavin 2009, Imhoff 2010, Leder 2012, Nibert 2012, Twine 2013, Stanescu 2013, Foer 2013, Genoways 2014, Anderson 2019and Blanchette 2020. I also employ philosophical analyses of the relations between capitalism and the environment.…”

Animal Business: an Ethical Exploration of Corporate Responsibility Towards Animals

“…Animals can be treated badly by companies (Engster 2006 ; Fraser 2008 ), or even be abused on a large scale (Braithwaite 2010 ; Foer 2009 ; Leder 2012 ; Singer 1975/2009 ). The extent of professional and corporate responsibility may differ by context.…”

1. Food justice, food security, and climate engineering

“…I have argued that companies bear responsibilities towards sentient animals in the value chain, which oblige them to consider how to prevent inflicting harm on them, including killing, and to protect their welfare. Nevertheless, in business practice animals are often treated badly by companies (Engster, 2006;, or even abused on a large scale (Braithwaite, 2010;Foer, 2009;Leder, 2012;Singer, 1975Singer, /2009. A paradigm shift is necessary for businesses to accept that sentient animals have interests that count ethically amongst other interests in and outside the company, and that they should be included in the stakeholder concept.…”