By: Leticia Fantinel and Verónica Policarpo
In February, the first post of a series of three was published, detailing the first steps of the Human-Animal Studies Hub (HAS-Hub). The post presents the first seeds of the Hub and the ingredients that helped it grow and gain some breath. With the mission of establishing and supporting a network of scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds and institutions interested in Human-Animal Studies who speak (not only but also) Portuguese, the HAS-Hub has been an important reference for researchers in the field. The Hub has been playing a crucial role in helping us to build a community, fostering collaboration and enabling us to work together to achieve common goals.
The series of posts reveal that the Hub is expanding, with the seeds already planted and the growth environment under close attention. Now, it is time to focus on nurturing the growth process so that the branches can become strong and fruitful. This post is dedicated to one of these branches – the research line “Animals and Organizations”. This is one of the two new research lines stemming from the synergies created in the course of post-doctoral projects developed at the Hub, the other one focusing on “Animals and Education”. Both will add to the already existing research strands that animate the HAS-Hub since 2018 – “Companion Animals” (Animals and Children, Animals and Personal Life), “Animals in Disasters”, and “Animals and Sustainability” (farmed animals, food animals, transition to plant-based diets).
Figure 1. Growing strong takes time and effort.
The new research line at the HAS-Hub was developed through partnerships that we have been collectively building. The first sparkles came with the postdoctoral research that Leticia Fantinel developed in 2022 and 2023, which brought to the Hub some expertise in organizational studies and management. The research conducted during this period, entitled “Multispecies organizing for Natural Disasters Prevention and Response”, happened in collaboration with the project “Liminal Becomings: reframing human-animal relations in natural disasters” [CEECIND/02719/2017] and focused specifically on animals affected by wildfires in Portugal. However, it highlighted the importance of the dialogue between Human Animal Studies (HAS) and Management and Organization Studies (MOS).
With this research line, we aim to unite researchers and projects that investigate the various ways in which animals and organizations interact. By doing so, we hope to improve our understanding of human-animal relationships and encourage positive changes in these relationships. In tune with the main proposal of the HAS-Hub, we want to challenge the view that animals are merely tools, resources, or objects in both academic organizational theories and real-life organizational settings. Instead, we want to explore the complex and intricate process of “organizing with animals”. We reject the idea that animals are passive recipients of human actions within organizations. Rather, animals are active and influential agents who participate with us in rich networks that produce what we call “organizing practices”.
The main goal of this new research line is, therefore, to investigate the connections between humans and animals within organizational contexts, regardless of whether the organizations are private, public, or social. We aim to develop a better understanding of the relationship between HAS and MOS by bringing together different theoretical and methodological perspectives that intersect these two fields.
Figure 2. The research line is open and interested in new scholars and projects.
The projects and interests that can be included in our research line cover a range of themes and phenomena related to the interaction between humans and animals in organizational contexts. These include: animal work and work with animals, markets, industries, and services that revolve around animal exploitation, and markets, industries, and services centered on human-animal relationships, such as those provided by the pet industry. Another possibility is to examine the effects of organizational and management practices on animal populations in rural, urban, and forest environments, as well as the impact of animal populations on organizational practices in different settings. Furthermore, we can explore ethical considerations and corporate responsibility regarding animal species, organizations focused on the defense, protection, conservation, and health of animals, and organizing practices dealing with animals in disaster and catastrophe contexts, as the project cited above.
Other areas of investigation include: collectives organized around non-consumption practices and boycotts of products and organizations involved in animal exploitation; the use of animal metaphors in organizations and organizational theories; policies and practices that focus on animal species, collectives, or individuals; and animal resistances to these policies and practices. We also aim at examining the inclusion and exclusion of animals in organizational spaces, human-animal relationships in organizational settings, the relationship between organizational theories and anthropocentrism, and the possibility of dismantling these anthropocentric logics. Methodological approaches for investigating human-animal relationships in organizational settings can also be explored, as well as the potential for human forms of organization to learn from animal forms of organization.
Over the past few years, the HAS-Hub has taken its first steps towards creating a community of scholars interested in examining the intricate relationships between humans and animals. With the establishment of this new research line focusing on animals and organizations, the Hub intends to merge theoretical and methodological perspectives from both Human Animal Studies and Management and Organization Studies to gain a better understanding of these relationships. We hope to encourage more ethical, responsible, and sustainable approaches to organized relations with animals. That said, we look forward to seeing the growth and development of this exciting new direction in the Human-Animal Studies field, and invite all those interested in exploring these complex relationships to join us in the HAS-Hub and participate in our upcoming activities.
Leticia Fantinel is an associate professor at the Federal University of Espirito Santo in Brazil, in the field of Organization Studies. Leader of the Study Group on Symbolism and Daily Practices in Organizing (GESIP/UFES), she completed a postdoc at HAS-Hub and ICS-ULisboa. Heading “Animals and Organizations” research. Email: leticia.fantinel@ufes.br.
Verónica Policarpo is a human-animal studies scholar. She coordinates the Human-Animal Studies Hub, at ICS-ULisboa, where she leads project CLAN, the post-graduate course Animais e Sociedade, and the International Summer School in Human-Animal Studies. She also leads the ERC Consolidator grant project ABIDE – Animal Abidings: recovering from disasters in more-than-human communities.
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