On July, 1st from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., a scientific conference about the social and cultural meanings and functions of the production and consumption of meat will take place at the University of Hamburg. It will be organized by the Group for Society and Animals Studies (GSA).
Various questions will be discussed by renowned speakers and by junior scientists:
- Questions about the construction of “eatable” and “not-eatable” animals and the ambivalent constructions within the relation between humans and animals.
- The role of media-related discourses and constructions about eating and producing meat as well as vegetarianism and veganism.
- The importance of (the consumption of) meat within the symbological order.
- Meat as expression of a violent relationship and associated strategies of normalisation and neutralisation.
- The question about the societal genesis of indifference and empathy towards systematic violence against animals.
Most presentations will be in german.
Speakers will be: Prof. Dr. Klaus Petrus (University of Bern), Dr. Matthew Cole/Dr. Kate Stewart (University of Bristol), Dr. Karen Morgan (University of Cardiff), Prof. Dr. Peter Kunzmann (University of Jena), Renate Brucker, Melanie Bujok and many more.
All people interested in these topics are invited to the conference. Closing date is June, 27th.
The GSA was formed in 2010 as a project of students and university-goers as well as a professor of the University of Hamburg. The goal was to contribute to a broader discussion of the relationship between humans/society and animals in sociology. Despite the social relevance of this topic it has hardly been discussed broadly in german-speaking sociology.Therefore, the GSA is a competent contact point for research activities and for networking related to human-animal-studies.
Programme
Venue: University of Hamburg, ESA West 221, Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1
Zeit: 01.07.2011, 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Closing date. 27.06.2011
Conference contribution: 20 Euros (Students 10 Euro), Vegan snacks and coffee/drinks included
Internet: www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de
e-mail: konferenz@gsa-hamburg.de