Inscriptions Researching Animal Research

Bol

Through a sustained and critical engagement with the histories, social relations and cultures surrounding animal research, this book asks what the sector can teach us about the relations between science, society and animals in the twenty-first century. Researching animal research sets out an innovative approach for understanding and intervening in the social relations around animal research. Using the concept of the animal research nexus, the book documents the current practices, professional norms and social imaginaries that make up animal research and explores how these elements have historically reshaped each other. The authors examine recent moves towards openness, inclusion and interdisciplinarity in science, and identify questions that can move the often polarised debate for and against animal research into new and more inclusive forms of communication. The book is written as a collaboration and conversation between historians, geographers, sociologists, anthropologists, science and technology studies scholars and engagement professionals, with commentaries from the arts, social sciences and animal research sector. Through detailed qualitative analysis of regulation, care, expertise and public engagement, the book offers an unparalleled picture of the changing cultures, practices and policies of UK animal research. Incorporating critical commentaries and examples of Creative practices, it also seeks to animate and potentially transform the animal research nexus that it describes.As the social imaginaries and regulations around animal research continue to change in the UK and beyond, this book provides a vital interdisciplinary contribution to the search for new ways to think about and research animal research today. Every year around 80 million scientific procedures are carried out on animals globally. These experiments have the potential to generate new understandings of biology and clinical treatments. They also give rise to ongoing societal debate. This book demonstrates how the humanities and social sciences can contribute to understanding what is created through animal procedures – including constitutional forms of research governance, different institutional cultures of care, the professional careers of scientists and veterinarians, collaborations with patients and publics, and research animals, specially bred for experiments or surplus to requirements. Developing the idea of the animal research nexus, this book explores how connections and disconnections are made between these different elements, how these have reshaped each other historically, and how they configure the current practice and policy of UK animal research.An electronic edition of this book is freely available under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND) licence.

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Pages: 480, Hardcover, Manchester University Press