Multispecies Marxism: Reading and Reflecting on Animals and Capital

An eight-session reading and discussion group on the central role of nonhuman animals in the capitalist economy, historically and today. Led by anthropologist Gizem Haspolat and visual artist Terike Haapoja, this class continues our successful sessions on animals and capitalism in 2022 and 2023, this time looking through a multispecies lens at key concepts of Marxism, such as ‘value’, ‘primitive accumulation’, ‘species being’, ‘circulation’, and ‘resistance.’ We will explore the potential and limits of Marxist theory for addressing the roles and fates of nonhuman animals, as well as ways to connect anticapitalist struggles to animal liberation and environmental justice. The main reading will be Animals and Capital (2023) by Dinesh Joseph Wadiwel (available in paperback and eBook formats from various online outlets). Participation in previous sessions is not required.

Gizem Haspolat is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at Rice University. Her areas of interest are critical animal studies, animal geographies, and human–nonhuman animal relations. In her ongoing research, she explores live animal trade as a site that intensifies the translations between ‘animal’ and capital, through an investigation of Turkey’s live cattle imports.

Terike Haapoja 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.