Animals and Capitalism: Metabolic Labor

Five sessions, Tuesdays at 12 noon US EST / 6 pm CET, starting November 18

A study group on nonhuman animals’ relationship with capital as living, breathing, “commodified” beings. What differentiates nonhuman animals from non-living commodified objects is the way their metabolic and reproductive capacities are harnessed in production. A vibrant discourse is currently emerging around the question of nonhuman labor and the ways in which non-waged forms of labor contribute to value accumulation under capitalism. In this study group, we will focus on how metabolic labor has been theorized in feminist studies and contemporary Marxist environmental and animal studies, with a specific focus on the particular function of nonhuman animals for capitalism. We will consider how harnessing and enhancing the metabolic labor of nonhuman animals is connected to fields such as waste management, biomedical research, big data, and the reproduction of the human labor force.

Convened by Gizem Haspolat and Terike Haapoja. Gizem holds a PhD in Anthropology and specializes in critical animal studies, animal geographies, and human-nonhuman animal relations. In her dissertation research, she explored live animal trade as a site that intensifies the translations between ‘animal’ and capital, through an investigation of live cattle imports in Turkey. Her current research project examines the application of ‘smart’ technologies and artificial intelligence in industrial agricultural settings. Terike is a visual artist based in Berlin. Her interdisciplinary practice includes installations, videos, writings, and collaborative projects that explore our relationship with the more-than-human world. Her current research on animal labor and multispecies anticapitalist struggle, with an extensive open bibliography, can be found on animalcapitalism.org.