Guest Lecture Helena Pedersen (University of Gothenburg, Sweden)

How does the act of viewing become a co-producer of violence toward animals in the meat production industry? As the visual becomes intricately entangled with the material in the industrial processes by which animals are rendered consumable objects, viewing takes on particular dynamic functions in this manufacturing of violence. This presentation will trace the visual topographies of various phases, spaces, and settings of animals becoming-meat; from the evaluating, objectifying eye of the producer via ‘slaughterhouse tourism’ in 19th-century Chicago abattoirs and contemporary slaughterhouse design adapted to animal perception to the consumer gaze encountering the marketing strategies of the animal industry. By evoking Una Chaudhuri’s notion of ‘zooësis’, I will propose a conceptual framework which creates a space for critical inquiry of the power of the visual and the performative in meat cultures.

Helena Pedersen is Associate Professor of Education in the Department of Pedagogical, Curricular and Professional Studies at Gothenburg University, who is currently a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Science, Technology and Society in Graz. Her research interests include critical animal studies, critical theory, educational philosophy, and posthumanism. Currently, she is working on a monograph on animal science education and schizoanalysis. She is the author of Animals in Schools: Processes and Strategies in Human-Animal Education (Purdue University Press, 2010), and her work has appeared in journals such as Emotion, Space and Society; Studies in Philosophy and Education; Culture, Theory and Critique; and Culture and Organization. Pedersen co-edits the Critical Animal Studies book series published by Brill and serves on the editorial board of Other Education: The Journal of Educational Alternatives.

The event is free and open to the public.

This lecture is organized by the Department of American Studies.

Information:

Department of American Studies Graz
Institut für Amerikanistik
Attemsgasse 25/II
A-8010 Graz
Tel. +43/316/380-2465

amerikanistik@uni-graz.at
http://amerikanistik.uni-graz.at