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“I fell in love with Carlos the meerkat”: Engagement and detachment in human–animal relations
Author(s) -
CANDEA MATEI
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1425.2010.01253.x
Subject(s) - human animal , fell , sociology , ethnography , perspective (graphical) , media studies , environmental ethics , aesthetics , gender studies , anthropology , philosophy , art , ecology , visual arts , geography , livestock , biology , cartography
Relationship, connection, and engagement have emerged as key values in recent studies of human–animal relations. In this article, I call for a reexamination of the productive aspects of detachment. I trace ethnographically the management of everyday relations between biologists and the Kalahari meerkats they study, and I follow the animals’ transformation as subjects of knowledge and engagement when they become the stars of an internationally popular, televised animal soap opera. I argue that treating detachment and engagement as polar opposites is unhelpful both in this ethnographic case and, more broadly, in anthropological discussions of ethics and knowledge making. [ human–animal relations, science, media, ethics, engagement, detachment ]