Linda Kalof is Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of the graduate certification in Animal Studies at Michigan State University, USA. Her research focuses on the cultural history of animal iconography. She has published twelve books and edits The Animal Turn book series at MSU Press.

Amy Fitzgerald is Professor of Criminology in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research at the University of Windsor, Canada. She has authored several articles and books examining the intersection of harms perpetrated against people, animals and the environment.

Prologue: reflections on the animal photographs Britta Jaschinski Editorial introduction Linda Kalof and Amy Fitzgerald Part 1: Animals as philosophical, ethical and political subjects Introduction 1. The history of animals Aristotle 2. Principles of morals and legislation Jeremy Bentham 3. Equality for animals? Peter Singer 4. In defense of slavery Marjorie Spiegel 5. The nature and importance of rights Tom Regan 6. Animal thing to animal person - thoughts on time, place, and theories Steven Wise 7. Frontiers of justice: capabilities and animals Martha Nussbaum 8. Becoming-animal Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari 9. The animal that therefore I am (more to follow) Jacques Derrida 10. From polis to zoopolis: a political theory of animal rights Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka 11. The struggle for compassion and justice through critical animal studies Carol Gigliotti Further reading in aminals as philosophical, ethical and political subjects Part 2: Animals as reflexive thinkers Introduction 12. An apology for Raymond Sebond Michel de Montaigne 13. From the letters of 1646 and 1649 René Descartes 14. The emotions Charles Darwin 15. Speaking for dogs Arnold Arluke and Clinton R. Sanders 16. Wild justice and fair play: cooperation, forgiveness, and morality in animals Marc Bekoff 17. Grief, sadness, and the bones of elephants Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy 18. Orangutan cultures and the evolution of material culture Carel P. van Schaik, Marc Ancrenaz, Gwendolyn Borgen, Birute Galdikas, Cheryl D. Knott, Ian Singleton, Akira Suzuki, Sri Suci Utami, and Michelle Merrill Further reading in animals as reflexive thinkers Part 3: Animals as domesticates, companions and food Introduction 19. The hunter-gatherer prehistory of human-animal interactions Steven Mithen 20. Animal pets: cruelty and affection Yi-Fu Tuan 21. The eating of flesh Plutarch 22. Brave new farm? Jim Mason and Mary Finelli 23. The sexual politics of meat Carol J. Adams 24. Nomadic pastoralism, ranching, and violence David Nibert 25. Theriocide: naming animal killing Piers Beirne 26. The work of animals: a challenge for social sciences Jocelyne Porcher Further reading in animals as domesticates, companions and food Part 4: Animals as spectacle and sport Introduction 27. Combats of elephants Pliny the Elder 28. On being human in the bullfight Garry Marvin 29. Dogfighting: symbolic expression and validation of masculinity Rhonda Evans, DeAnn Kalich (Gauthier) and Craig J. Forsyth 30. Hunting and humanity in Western thought Matt Cartmill 31. Naturalizing zoo animals Irus Braverman Further reading in animals as spectacle and sport Part 5: Animals as symbols Introduction 32. Why look at animals? John Berger 33. The totemic illusion Claude Lévi-Strauss 34. Animals as tradition Boria Sax 35. Animals and visual culture Randy Malamud 36. What is the postmodern animal? Steve Baker Further reading in animals as symbols Part 6: Animals as scientific objects Introduction 37. Observations on the animal kingdom Carl Linnaeus 38. The Brown Dog Riots of 1907 Coral Lansbury 39. Into the laboratory Lynda Birke 40. Biopower and the biotechnological framing of the animal body Richard Twine 41. Sharing suffering: instrumental relations between laboratory animals and their people Donna J. Haraway 42. Responding bodies and partial affinities in human-animal worlds Vinciane Despret Further reading in animals as scientific objects. Index

The Animals Reader brings together classic and contemporary writings from philosophy, ethics, sociology, cultural studies, anthropology, environmental studies, history, law and science. Providing readers with both an understanding of the multidisciplinary field of animal studies and a clear sense of how the role of animals in human society has been understood and critiqued through time, this second edition has been expanded to reflect key developments in theory and research that have emerged in recent years.
Forty-two chapters are divided into six parts. Favourite entries from the first edition have been retained, and are joined by sixteen new readings covering topics such as equality, animal rights and citizenship, zoos, death and killing, and embodied communication and empathy.
The second edition begins with a new prologue by acclaimed wildlife photographer and photojournalist Britta Jaschinski. Updated pedagogical features include a new general introduction by the editors, revised introductions to each part and each reading, as well as new suggestions for further reading at the end of each section.
As such, The Animals Reader is an invaluable collection for students across the humanities and social sciences, and is also suitable for general readers with an interest in human-animal relations.