Speculative philosophy of history, comparative and global history historiography, Publishes articles, review essays, and summaries of books principally in theseĪreas: critical philosophy of history, cause, explanation, interpretation, objectivity History and Theory is the premier international journal in the field ![]() My contention is that our reluctance to join the rest of the animal kingdom on its terms, on more natural terms, exposes a lingering devotion to human "exceptionalism," one that is inherent in the humanities and social sciences. ![]() Therefore, the cultural-constructionist arguments regarding "the animal"-that our understanding of nonhuman animals is entirely culturally generated-need to be viewed as overly simplistic. The debate regarding whether humans are anomalous and outside nature or separate from other animals is complicated when the stomach enzymes from an animal, whether wolf or crocodile, digest a human being. Animals permeate our history and we theirs: tug at the threads and our stories, woven as they are into the same tightly knit tapestry, will not disentwine. Humans can have violently intimate relationships with other creatures, an intimacy that defines much of global human history. The foundational premise of the article is that humans are animals, sometimes even a meaty prey species, and that, as such, they are not external to nature or, ultimately, different from other animals in this regard. The article examines the histories of animals in Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and North America in order to tease out the similarities and differences of human experiences with other animals. Its principal concerns are the manner in which historians grant agency to animals and how that agency functions in historical narration. ![]() This article surveys recent historical writings on animals.
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