When Species Meet

Species Meet is a breathtaking meditation on the intersection between humankind dog, philosophy science, macro micro cultures.-Cameron Woo, Publisher of Bark magazine In 2006, about 69 million U.S. households had pets, giving homes to around 73.9 million dogs, 90.5 million cats, 16.6 million birds, spending over $38 billion dollars on animals. As never before in history, our pets are truly members of the family. But the notion of companion speciesd-knotted from human beings, animals other organisms, landscapes, technologies-includes much more than companion animals.d In When Species Meet, Donna J. Haraway digs into this larger phenomenon to contemplate the interactions of humans with many kinds of critters, especially with those called domestic. At the heart of the book are her experiences in agility training with her dogs Cayenne Roland, but Haraway's vision here also encompasses wolves, chickens, cats, baboons, sheep, microorganisms, whales wearing video cameras. From designer pets to lab animals to trained therapy dogs, she deftly explores philosophical, cultural, biological aspects of animal-human encounters. In this deeply personal yet intellectually groundbreaking work, Haraway develops the idea of species, those who meet break bread together but not without some indigestion. A great deal is at stake in such meetings,she writes, and outcomes are not guaranteed. There is no assured happy or unhappy ending-socially, ecologically, or scientifically. There is only the chance for getting on together with some grace.d Ultimately, she finds that respect, curiosity, knowledge spring from animal-human associations work powerfully against ideas about human exceptionalism. One of the founders of the posthumanities, Donna J. Haraway is professor in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Author of many books widely read essays, including Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, Significant Otherness the now-classic essay The Cyborg Manifesto,she received the J. D. Bernal Prize in 2000, a lifetime achievement award from the Society for Social Studies in Science.