Presentation short abstract

This presentation explores methods for researching relations between humans and ‘animals-as-food‘ in animal agriculture. It discusses multispecies ethnography as a way to research human-animal relations and material realities of animals’ lives and body mapping as a method to depict meat relations.

Presentation long abstract

This presentation explores methods that are helpful for researching relations between humans and ‘animals-as-food‘ in animal agriculture. Specifically, it discusses multispecies ethnography and body mapping. Based on multispecies ethnographic research on a Swiss goat alp, I share insights on the possibilities and limits of such species-spanning ethnography for studying the material realities of animals’ lives and human-animal relations which entail a strong power imbalance as the animals in question are conceptually viewed and materially treated as animals-as-food.

Furthermore, based on the review of Heide Bruckner’s work on body mapping (dis)connections to animals in alternative food networks, I present this as a method to depict meat relations.